Devdutt Padikkal conjured an extraordinary 117, powering India above Rishabh Pant’s hand injury and untimely fall of wickets around him to a reasonable 300 for five on the opening day of second and final Test against spirited Sri Lanka here on Sunday.
Dhruv Jurel (7) and debutant Saransh Jain (4) were batting at close after a taxing day of Test cricket. Padikkal’s 168-ball innings, his second hundred in as many Tests, was not laced with the customary elegance, barring on a couple of occasions when he brought out those full-blooded pulls and drives. He was dropped on 0 and 1 but remained solid after those reprieves. But the innings was still stunning because of the circumstances in which it was executed. Yashasvi Jaiswal (45) and skipper Shubman Gill (50), with whom he constructed a stabilising 120-run stand for the third wicket, were dismissed after raising visions of bigger knocks. Pant copped a blow on his forearm from pacer Lahiru Kumara and had to retire hurt on 3, leaving Padikkal to do the heavy lifting.