632 Days Out, Then a Devdutt Padikkal Century in Galle

India's long, awkward search for a first-drop batter got its clearest answer in years on Saturday, when a Devdutt Padikkal century took the tourists to 288 for 2 at stumps on day one of the opening Test against Sri Lanka at Galle. He finished the day unbeaten on 131 from 178 balls with 12 fours and a six. The number that frames all of it: he had not played a Test in 632 days.

That gap is the part worth sitting with. Padikkal last played red-ball cricket for India in November 2024, on the Border-Gavaskar tour of Australia. He didn't bat his way back with a mountain of domestic runs the selectors couldn't ignore. He walked in because B Sai Sudharsan was ruled out with a stress fracture in his toe, and India wanted another left-hander in the same slot.

By the close of day two he had 167, and India were 460 for 9 on a day when rain wiped out the first session and a half and only 43 overs were possible. For a batter who has spent most of his international career as the man carrying the drinks, that is an unusually loud way to say you belong.

The 632-day wait behind the innings

Padikkal's Test career has been a stop-start thing — a few games, a long silence, a call-up when someone else gets hurt. He looked in good touch in the warm-up fixture against a Sri Lanka XI before this tour, which is presumably why he was the name reached for when Sudharsan's toe gave way. India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak was asked about him after day one and framed it simply.

I am happy for Devdutt Padikkal. He was waiting for his opportunity, and he has used his opportunity.

Kotak also mentioned working with him at the National Cricket Academy and getting useful net time in Sri Lanka before the match. Preparation stories are cheap after a hundred, but the practical point stands: this was a batter who had done the work with no guarantee of a game, and got roughly 48 hours' notice that he was playing.

What the Devdutt Padikkal Century Fixes

Test cricket is unforgiving about the No. 3 spot. You can be padded up before the first over is done, facing a hard ball and a fresh bowler. India has not had a settled occupant of that chair for a while, and the numbers are blunt about it.

Seven batters, 19 Tests, an average of 27

In the 19 Tests before this one, India used seven different players at No. 3. Across 35 innings they averaged 27.28 and managed only five scores of fifty or more. That is not a position; that is a waiting room. Cheteshwar Pujara, who owned the role for a decade, last played a Test in 2023, and nobody had properly replaced him since.

Only the second left-hander there this century

There's a second layer to it. Padikkal is only the second left-handed batter to score a Test hundred at No. 3 for India in the 21st century — the first was Sourav Ganguly, back in 2002. The last Indian to make a century in that position at all was Shubman Gill, in September 2024 against Bangladesh. Gill is now the captain, batting lower, and the slot has been vacant behind him.

Why Galle gave him a gentler start

Conditions helped, and it's fair to say so. India won the toss and batted, and Yashasvi Jaiswal (32) and KL Rahul gave Padikkal a platform rather than a rescue job. Rahul made a patient 77 off 162 balls before retiring hurt with cramps late in the day. Padikkal came in with the shine gone and the bowlers already tiring in the Galle heat.

He still had to face Prabath Jayasuriya, whose left-arm spin has ended plenty of visiting tours at this ground, and he did it without panic — sweeping when he had to, using his feet when the ball was pitched up, refusing to slog. Jayasuriya finished with three wickets, but not his.

The bigger occasion around it

This was India's 600th Test match, and Gill called leading the side in it a huge honour. It was also the 50th Test staged at Galle International Stadium, which makes the little ground under the Dutch fort the most-used Test venue in Asia. Small stage, big anniversary — and a debutant on the other side, Keshara Nuwantha, who took the second new ball on day two and removed both Rishabh Pant, on 39, and Rahul. Dhruv Jurel added a fifty in the lower middle order.

What to watch from here

The immediate question isn't whether this Devdutt Padikkal century was good — it was — but whether it buys him more than one match. Sudharsan will be fit again at some point, and India's habit has been to send Padikkal back to the reserves the moment the first-choice man recovers. Two Tests in a row would be a first for him. If you're following from India, note that Sri Lanka runs on the same clock as us, so play starts at 10 am IST with no time-zone maths. Days three and four are where 460 has to become a win, and where rain remains the most likely spoiler.