'I've dreamt of this moment' - Devdutt Padikkal reflects on maiden Test century for India

Devdutt Padikkal smashed his maiden Test century as India reached 288 for two against Sri Lanka at stumps on day one of the Galle Test on Saturday, August 15. Playing his first Test since November 2024, Padikkal went back after smashing 167 off 230 deliveries, striking 15 fours and a six. India chose to bat first after winning the toss in their 600th Test match at Galle International Stadium.

The Karnataka-born batter has now become the first Indian left-hander since Sourav Ganguly in 2002 to score a Test century at the No. 3 position. His century also ended India's wait for a hundred from the No. 3 spot since Shubman Gill's century against Bangladesh in Chennai in September 2024. Padikkal reflected on the special knock, saying that he had been working hard for the past couple of years to make it happen.

"I've dreamt of this moment. For the last two years, I've been working really hard to try and make sure that when I get that opportunity, I can do something special like this, and I'm really happy to do that. (On his aggressive intent vs spin early on and decisive footwork) Yeah, I think we have discussed that at length, especially when you're playing spin, it's important that you have certain plans in your head." Padikkal told reporters at the end of second day's play.

"You cannot go out there and expect to react all the time. It's important that we have a couple of shots in your head that you want to play as soon as you go out there, so that you can put some pressure on the bowler as well. So, I think over the last year or so, we have really worked on trying to find ways in our own strengths that you can really implement to make sure that you put pressure back," Padikkal added.

Planning and pressure against spin

Notably, India ended the second day of the Galle encounter with 460 runs on the board for the loss of nine wickets. Naturally, Padikkal has been India's highest individual scorer for his 167. It will now be interesting to see if the Indians declare overnight, asking the hosts to come out to bat when Day 3 begins, since a lot of time has already been lost owing to rain delays.