CHENNAI: Ahead of the solitary warm-up fixture against Sri Lanka Cricket XI, most of the talks centred around India's No 3 especially with B Sai Sudharsan unable to recover from toe injury he sustained during the India A tour of the island nation. Devdutt Padikkal was the frontrunner to replace Sai Sudharsan if the latter doesn't get fit in time.
All those talks vanished into thin air on Saturday with the Karnataka batter slamming an unbeaten 142 on Day 2 of the tour match and the Tamil Nadu batter getting ruled out of the two-Test series.
Earlier in the day, in reply to SLC XI 363/8 declared on the opening day, the visitors lost opener Yashasvi Jaiswal off the second delivery. The Mumbai batter flashed at a wide delivery from Vishwa Fernando, slashing it straight to backward point fielder. That brought Padikkal at the crease and he along with his Karnataka teammate KL Rahul added 96 runs for the second wicket before the latter was castled by offie Keshara Nuwantha. Veteran Ravindra Jadeja (63 retired out) and Manav Suthar (41) too contributed handsomely as India ended the day on 357/6 — six runs short of SLC XI's first innings total.
The innings at the Nondescripts Cricket Club, Colombo was the knock Padikkal desperately needed to get back into the team and it came on time as it sealed his place in the playing XI for the first match scheduled to begin on August 15.
Notably, the 26-year-old left hand batter had played only two Tests so far after making his debut against England in March 2024. In the same year, he played his second and last match against Australia in Perth when Rohit Sharma was on paternity leave.
Despite not being in the team, the swashbuckling batter from Bengaluru kept piling on runs whenever he got opportunities. He smashed 543 runs in Ranji Trophy for Karnataka at 76.47, before leading them into the final. He followed it up with a stellar season for Royal Challengers Bengaluru — 464 runs at 33.14 average and 168.72 strike rate.
Then, Padikkal went to Sri Lanka with India A scoring 94, 12 and 67 in the three innings he batted. Apart from this, he also turned up for Mysuru Warriors in the Maharaja Trophy eliminator and then turned his focus to red-ball cricket training with his coach Mohammed Naseeruddin of Karnataka Institute Of Cricket (KIOC). Over the course of eight days, the 26-year-old had four sessions (alternate days) sweating it out against the red-ball.
It all seemed to have paid dividends as he is set to be India's new No 3 when Shubman Gill and Co take on Sri Lanka in the first Test in Galle.
As far as Sai Sudharsan is concerned, the Sports Science team, which has been monitoring his rehabilitation, has informed the management and national selection committee of the player's unavailability. "Sai Sudharsan has been ruled out of the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka. Doctors have advised more time for biological healing. Significant improvement, but not yet sufficient for a safe return to Test cricket," according to the update from the Sports Science team.
The medical cum fitness advice for Sudharsan reads: "Rehabilitation, strength & conditioning, and cricket-specific loads should be increased gradually and under close monitoring. The cautious approach is aimed at reducing the risk of recurrence or further complications and protecting long-term performance."
Brief scores: SLC XI 363/8 decl vs India 357/6 in 90 ovs (Padikkal 142 batting, Jadeja 63 retd hurt; Mendis 2/77, Manoj 2/32).