CHENNAI: Just as he pushed Prabath Jayasuriya down the ground for a single in the 70th over, Devdutt Padikkal brought out the fist pumps as he jogged over to the other end to complete his second Test hundred. Unlike Galle, he did not follow it up with a leap in the air, but a quiet smile before the helmet came off as he looked above to thank the heavens.
If Galle was about announcing his arrival and taking the weight of his back with his first Test ton, Colombo, on Day 1 of the second Test against Sri Lanka, was all about solidity and assurance. He was dropped twice early on in the innings; even before he reached double digits. But none of it mattered. When India walked off the field at stumps, the scoreboard read 300/5 in 85 overs and that is largely thanks to Padikkal's 117 which helped him seal the No 3 spot for the foreseeable future at least.
And the most pleasing aspect for the Indian team management would be the 120-run stand he had with skipper Shubman Gill after both openers were dismissed. The ball was still hard (it was only 17 overs old) and Sri Lankan bowlers, be it pacers or spinners, was not giving away any easy runs. Together, they had to put their head down and just bat time. It helped that both Gill and Padikkal grew up doing just that. If Gill spent years facing hundreds and thousands of balls every day from his father in Fazilka first and then in Mohali, Padikkal's family moved from Hyderabad to Bengaluru for his batting and he had to wait for a chance to do the one thing he loved — bat.
They both plundered runs through age-group cricket for respective states and made a name for themselves for the sheer volume of runs they scored. Gill, obviously, was a few years ahead and made up the ranks faster than Padikkal. The Bengaluru batter took his time to stamp his authority but the last 18 months has been a different story.
Together, they blunted everything Sri Lanka threw at them. Gill was happy to pad out Jayasuriya when he came from over the wicket and Padikkal used the crease to hold his own. When the ball was there to be hit, both took it on, keeping the scoreboard moving. Till the time Gill fell, just after his fifty in the second session, it looked like there was not much Sri Lanka could do to trouble then. Once Gill fell for 50, Padikkal kept going with Ravindra Jadeja (Rishabh Pant got injured and was retired hurt). He spent 53 overs in the middle, faced 168 balls and hit ten fours to bring up the second Test ton. Prior to the series, Padikkal had spent time preparing for the challenge in Colombo. One of the wishes his coach Mohammed Naseeruddin of Karnataka Institute Of Cricket (KIOC) had expressed was to score that first ton and make it into two in the series. "I am waiting for his first hundred. That first Test hundred. When gets that first, god-willing he will get his second also," he had told this daily. Now, he had ticked both the boxes.
In the larger scheme of things, Padikkal's century holds more significance than just sealing his spot in the playing XI. Not since Cheteshwar Pujara's centuries Down Under in Melbourne and Sydney has an Indian No 3 scored two hundreds in as many Tests. In fact, since 2019, only four centuries have come at No 3 for India. One by Pujara in 2022 and three by Gill in 2024. And since the skipper moved to No 4, India have tried several players in the position before Padikkal got his chance. Safe to say, he has made it his own over the last week and a half.
There is still a Test match to be won in Colombo. And a lot of World Test Championship points to play for. But Padikkal, team management, and selectors will be relieved and have breathed a sigh of relief that they have a No 3 batter who is very likely to keep his place in the XI at least till the end of the WTC cycle next year.