Even before November 1999, a host of exceptional wicketkeeper-batters had graced the international scene, not least India’s own Farokh Engineer and the wonderful Andy Flower from Zimbabwe. But from the time a left-hander from Western Australia stormed the Test firmament at the Gabba in Brisbane nearly 27 years back with a bruising 81 on debut, against a shell-shocked Pakistani outfit, wicketkeeper-batters have been looked at in an entirely different vein.

Adam Gilchrist rewrote the dynamics of Test batsmanship. He was a destructive opener in limited-overs cricket long before he played his first Test, and reeled off numerous wondrous knocks, including in the final of the 50-over 2007 World Cup when, with a squash ball for company, he bludgeoned his way to 149 against Mahela Jaywardene’s Sri Lanka in a decisive effort that took Australia to a hat-trick of titles. But it was in the red-ball game that Gilchrist set stall as a pioneer, providing not just meaningful heft to the Australian batting but scoring runs at such a furious clip that opponents were often ducking, unsuccessfully, for cover.

For the most part of his glittering career that encompassed 96 Tests, the left-hander had the luxury of batting behind a grand top six that used different methodologies to subjugate bowling attacks in all parts of the world. The sight of Gilchrist, the destroyer supreme, striding in purposefully at No. 7, was dispiriting or exhilarating, depending on which side of the fence one was. Gilchrist seldom disappointed; when he scored his runs, he did so with not just panache and chutzpah but also with a violent streak that damaged bowling figures as well as egos. How could anyone bat with such unchecked aggression at No. 7? How could someone fuse a no-holds-barred approach with such consistency (as an average of 47.60 at a strike-rate of 81.95 will unequivocally testify to)?

Gold standard

Gilchrist will remain the gold standard among wicketkeeper-batters, the platform from which the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, more than anyone else, launched himself into the stratosphere. Gilchrist’s towering presence kept an entire generation – or more – of Aussie stumper-batters out of international reckoning. India, however, found a judicious balance; while Dhoni’s aggression in front of the stumps and his brilliance behind it precluded a dynamic new force breaking through, India were compelled to find a place, if only as a specialist batter, for Dinesh Karthik, the ebullient little right-hander from Chennai who was more than good enough to hold his own as a batter.

Karthik wasn’t the first Indian gloveman to play as a specialist batter. Nearly four decades before him, Budhi Kunderan donned that role, even opening the batting in England in 1967 alongside designated wicketkeeper Engineer. A couple of decades on, Chandrakant Pandit played as a middle-order bat with Kiran More slotting in as the wicketkeeper. Such was Karthik’s great natural ability – which he didn’t maximise, he will acknowledge – that in the Dhoni era, India fielded him as a full-fledged opener overseas, and with no little success. Alongside Wasim Jaffer, Karthik formed an excellent opening combine in Bangladesh and England in 2007, bringing up his only Test ton across the border and bettering that effort by emerging as India’s highest scorer in England, when they last won a Test series there by a slender 1-0 margin.

Karthik played his last eight Tests down the order, sometimes when Dhoni wasn’t available (including through retirement) and he donned the big gloves, and at others when he played alongside the Jharkhandi as a pure batter. Just one half-century in his last 14 Test innings meant he played the last of his 26 Tests in August 2018; his Test average of 25 was decidedly underwhelming, given his supreme gift as a batter, but that can happen when one is overeager and anxious to not just justify their selection but also state their case for a longer rope.

India now have a profusion of excellent wicketkeeper-batters across formats – Rishabh Pant, of course, tops that chart, especially when it comes to the red-ball variant, but there are a host of others that can’t be ignored. Among them are Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan, exclusive when it comes to the white-ball version. And Dhruv Jurel, the 25-year-old from Agra whose first Test cap came as a wicketkeeper against England in Rajkot in February 2024 when Pant was out after his horrific road accident of 14 months previously and KS Bharat had played himself out of the XI with poor efforts in the first two Tests in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam respectively.

The generational talent that Pant is, he kept almost exclusively from the time he made his Test debut in Nottingham in August 2018 and made a stunning 114 in his third appearance at the Oval till his single-car accident in December 2022 when India were suddenly forced to scramble for a replacement. Bharat, from Andhra, won the early nod for the home Tests against Australia in February 2023 and donned the big gloves in the final of the World Test Championship against the same opponents that June. KL Rahul was nominated the first-choice stumper for the two Tests in South Africa towards the end of the year, more to provide stability and class to the lower order in a line-up from which very few had played in South Africa previously. Bharat reclaimed his spot behind the sticks against England at home and played himself out of the XI following scores of 41, 28, 17 and 6 which meant that in seven Tests and 12 innings, he only averaged 20.09, a definite no-no given that the wicketkeeper’s was no longer a single-discipline specialised slot.

Out went the call to Jurel for the third Test in Rajkot with the series finely poised at 1-1, and it was immediately apparent that India had hit upon a gold mine. The right-hander made a poised 46 on debut, and upped the ante in the next match with scores of 90 and 39 not out, the first ensuring that India didn’t end up conceding a massive lead and the second taking them home in a tense run-chase when he and Shubman Gill put on 72 for the unfinished sixth-wicket stand.

This was in February 2024, when one wasn’t sure when Pant would be available for selection though in a characteristic show of gumption and guts, the stocky left-hander was far ahead of the timelines the doctors had tentatively outlined for a possible comeback to competitive cricket. Pant was ready for international cricket in September that year, making a remarkable recovery from a series of potentially life-threatening injuries to smash 109 on his comeback Test in Chennai against Bangladesh. Suddenly, Jurel faced an uncertain future. Despite an impressive start to his Test career, he had to bow before the irrepressible force that Pant was, though it was always on the cards that he could slot in alongside Pant, if not necessarily ahead of him.

In six of his last nine Tests, Jurel has occupied a specialist batter’s position between No. 4 and No. 8 (and that only because Akash Deep was employed as a nightwatchman at the Oval last August). On the three occasions when was the designated wicketkeeper, Pant was unavailable through injury after breaking his right foot in the Manchester Test against England in July last year. Despite the vast array of batting riches at India’s disposal, head coach Gautam Gambhir has identified in Jurel a dependable batting option, and the man from Uttar Pradesh has comprehensively justified that faith with two hundreds and a fifty in those nine Tests and 15 innings.

Jurel’s coming-of-age moment, if it can be called that, transpired in Ahmedabad last October with Pant still to recover from the broken foot. In India’s only innings against West Indies, he uncorked an excellent 125, then followed it up with 44 in the next Test in Delhi. With Pant returning to action against South Africa in November, Jurel continued on as a batter alone though like the rest of his colleagues, he had a series to forget with outings of 14, 13, 0 and 2 in a disastrous 0-2 result that has comprehensively dented India’s hopes of making a third WTC final in four cycles.

But instead of pressing the panic button and looking elsewhere, the decision-makers continued to invest their belief in him and Jurel has responded in style. Towards the end of June, he was a part of the India ‘A’ squad that travelled on the ‘shadow’ tour of Sri Lanka for two unofficial ‘Tests’, ostensibly at the insistence of Gambhir because of his felicity against the turning ball. Jurel warmed up nicely for the Test series to follow with scores of 141 not out, 14 and 53, and it was no surprise that he was picked for the first Test in Galle, when he weighed in with 51 and 7 in a winning cause.

In Colombo last week, Jurel went one better with an unbeaten 115 during which he brought his technical expertise and his mental fortitude into play. He also kept wickets for a while when Pant was recovering from a blow to his right shoulder sustained while batting, and when he went back to the outfield, took a terrific running catch from point to get rid of Lahiru Kumara in Sri Lanka’s first innings. At every stage in every role, he has looked the part, making his presence felt with total commitment and a never-say-die spirit without seeking recourse to the flashy and the flamboyant.

Jurel was chosen for Sri Lanka for his ability to play spin with finesse, and it is hard now to see him being overlooked during the November Test tour of New Zealand where the challenges for batters will be vastly different. At No. 6, behind Pant, he has the technique to tackle the second new ball if that is what he is confronted with. Ravindra Jadeja behind him in the batting order and the possible return of Washington Sundar from injury mean he is a right-handed option around a plethora of left-handers, and while that alone can’t be a qualification, he has shown that he can hold his own against bowling of any kind in any conditions.

India are fortunate that in Jurel, they have a three-in-one cricketer with his entire future ahead of him. As a batting average of 40.68 from 12 Tests proves, he is every bit deserving of the show of confidence. A place in the starting XI in Wellington in November is no more than he deserves; one can rest assured that Jurel will be short on neither preparation nor fire when ‘Play’ is called at the Basin Reserve.

How often does a draw feel like a defeat? And a stalemate assume the hue of a victory? Often enough, Shubman Gill will insist.

Despite their own uneasy recent dalliance with the five-day format, India would have fancied their chances of bearding the Sri Lankan lion in its own den in a two-Test series that is pretty much the norm when the world’s most sought-after side isn’t playing against Australia or England.

India hadn’t lost a series in this country since 2008 and arrived early this month sitting on a five-Test winning streak on Sri Lankan soil. Even though their last visit was in 2017, they had reason to believe the hosts were ripe for the taking.

Significant result

The script seemed to be holding true. Notwithstanding pockets of defiance from their young guns, led by the exceptional Sonal Dinusha, Sri Lanka slumped to a 185-run rout in Galle in the first Test. The result assumed a more significant hue because India were without two-fifths of their first-choice bowling attack — Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar were missing through injuries — but still won a rain-hit encounter with quite a bit to spare.

There was excellent reason, therefore, to aspire for a 2-0 sweep ahead of the second Test at the SSC ground. Sri Lanka, already without Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis, were dealt another unkind cut when Dinesh Chandimal was ruled out of the second Test after hurting his neck while fielding in Galle. But as it turned out, his replacement, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, had a great game at the SSC, desperately unlucky to miss out of centuries in both innings.

Dinusha delights

Dinusha, however, ensured that a similar fate didn’t befall him. Ahead of this series, the 25-year-old left-hander had played just three Tests but had showcased his ability and his temperament, not least in the Caribbean in June-July when he reeled off a sequence of 43, 12 not out, 92 and 28 in the two Tests.

It should have been fair warning well heeded; it will be presumptuous to say that India didn’t pay much attention to the young man, but they didn’t crack the Dinusha puzzle throughout the series, which is one of the main reasons they had to settle for a 1-0 scoreline despite dominating the second Test too for large stretches.

Dinusha batted for a little less than 20 hours in making 420 runs from 722 deliveries, the single point of difference as the Lankans ground out a fabulous draw after being forced to follow on in the second Test.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom from an Indian point of view. Devdutt Padikkal grabbed his chances with both hands in his first Tests in more than 20 months. In the absence of Sai Sudharsan, he took giant strides towards making the No. 3 slot his own with hundreds in the first innings of both games.

The volume of runs was impressive, but so was his presence in the middle. In further signs of his evolution as a dependable, oftentimes aggressive all-format batter, he treated the bowling with just about the respect it deserved, using the offside as his preferred area of scoring and looking equally comfortable against pace and spin.

India will find it very hard to look beyond him for the one-drop position when they play two Tests in New Zealand in November. After all, how can you overlook the credentials of someone as consistent as the Karnataka left-hander was in Sri Lanka?

And then, there was Dhruv Jurel, justifying the faith of the Gautam Gambhir-led think-tank which was sure that the wicketkeeper-batter was the answer to their prayers for a dependable middle-order batter who could play spin with soft hands, deftness of feet and no gremlins of self-doubt.

Assured batting

Alongside Sai Sudharsan and Padikkal, Jurel was one of the three batters Gambhir was keen should be a part of the India ‘A’ side that arrived on these shores for a shadow tour towards the end of June. Admittedly, neither Galle nor the SSC was a rank turner like Kolkata had been against South Africa in November, but Jurel didn’t put a foot wrong either in front of the stumps — he had a half-century in the first Test which he topped with his second ton in the next — or behind it when Rishabh Pant sat out much of the Sri Lankan first innings in Colombo with an assortment of blows to his body.

K.L. Rahul was dependable without going big while Pant was, well, Pant — exhilarating, unpredictable, entertaining and compelling. Maybe Gill will be a little disappointed that he didn’t join the list of centurions, but his batting looked in decent order, as did Yashasvi Jaiswal’s even if he found novel ways of courting dismissals.

Then, there was Prasidh Krishna. Ahead of the series, Gill was asked if he had a difficult choice to make between the Karnataka pacer and the uncapped Gurnoor Brar as Mohammed Siraj’s new-ball partner. The skipper barely batted an eyelid when he said that Prasidh was bowling the best with the red ball that he had ever seen him, and the strapping quick didn’t disappoint.

Even on the placid decks on offer, he worked up good pace, extracted appreciable bounce and kept the batters honest. When he pitched the ball up, there was movement which, allied with pace in the region of 140 kmph, made him a tricky proposition.

Up for the challenge

Prasidh was up for any challenge, including doing the dirty job of trying to soften up the batters with his shortish length, and is shaping up into an excellent support act for Bumrah and Siraj. India will need their pacers to fire on all cylinders when they go to New Zealand, so from that perspective, the development of Prasidh is perhaps the single greatest takeaway for the decision-making group from this three-week sojourn to the Emerald Isle.

But there are worrying signs aplenty too, not least when it comes to back-up spin options. Despite starting his Test career with so much promise in New Chandigarh when he took six wickets in the first innings against Afghanistan, and despite his ten-wicket match haul in Galle, Manav Suthar is still very much a work in progress.

In Colombo, his craft had to play second fiddle to the slowness of the SSC strip; there was bounce aplenty, which took bowled and leg before out of the equation, but the left-arm spinner was slow to respond when the Sri Lankan batters resorted to the sweep and the reverse sweep.

It might appear a touch harsh on someone who was only playing in his third Test, but this is an early education for Suthar and he will do well to heed the lessons if he aspires to step into the shoes of Ravindra Jadeja going forward and become the lead bowler around whom the Indian spin attack will revolve in the future.

Debut to forget

While Suthar did show signs of promise, Saransh Jain had a disappointing debut — and there is no way to sugarcoat that. On the radar of those involved in talent-identification and selection matters for a while now, Jain is an experienced hand at 33, with more than 50 first-class appearances under his belt for various outfits.

His first delivery in Test cricket was a no-ball, which can perhaps be put down to nerves, but he bowled six more of them across the two innings, which couldn’t have pleased anyone, least of all new spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule. But it wasn’t just the no-balls that were grating. While he did show reasonable control, the threat quotient was barely perceptible.

Saransh wouldn’t have been here if Washington was available but as a fallback alternative, he has a long way to go. In some ways, it points to a slight thinning of resources in the spin cupboard, which ought to worry those in the corridors of power because for so long now, India have got used to having the now-retired R. Ashwin and Jadeja to spin their webs of deception and lure batters to their doom.

After a lull, India have plenty of fast-bowling options to summon despite Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep and Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy spending a lot of time in the infirmary. But for the traditional land of spin to struggle to unearth an incisive off-spinner is a little hard to fathom and harder still to digest.

Jain deserves the benefit of doubt — after all, this was Test No. 1 and maybe he did have the proverbial ordinary one-off game — but for him to set himself up as a semi-long-term option, there must be obvious signs of improvement.

This tour in general, and the second Test particularly, was a steep learning curve for the captain. It’s been a little over 14 months since Gill first led the Test team, in England in Leeds last June. Captaincy looks simple from the outside but entails plenty of decision-making on the fly, even in Test cricket, without second-guessing oneself.

He was handicapped by a rapidly softening ball in Galle and by an SSC surface that had bounce but hardly any pace. Some of the fields he employed were strange, there was a definite occasional slant towards passivity, and the move to almost ignore trying to get Dinusha out on the final day of the series and target the other end was little short of self-defeating.

Mixed run

Gill has had a mixed run as captain — 2-2 in England, 2-0 at home against West Indies, defeat in his only Test against South Africa in Kolkata when he faced a mere three deliveries before contracting a neck injury, a hammering of Afghanistan and now this 1-0 success in Sri Lanka, his first overseas victory as skipper.

The journey has been challenging and exciting, but daunting outings lie in store in the red-ball version before he starts to focus exclusively on the 50-over format ahead of the World Cup in southern Africa in the second half of next year.

India haven’t won a Test in New Zealand since 2009 when Mahendra Singh Dhoni led them to a famous series triumph, and their last visit in 2020 was an unmitigated disaster as they were soundly beaten in both matches.

New Zealand will test the technique and the character of the batting group with its seam-friendly conditions, after which Australia will come calling for five Tests in India. Gill must be on top of his game — as lead batter and as leader — and towards that end, Sri Lanka was a timely, useful wake-up call.

A scrambled single to mid-off, a little leap in the air. The helmet whipped off, arms held half-aloft, his face bathed in a million-dollar smile. And just like that, Devdutt Padikkal became the 84th player to conjure a Test century for India.

And it wasn’t just any hundred. It was Padikkal’s maiden three-figure knock in the five-day game, in only his third Test appearance. These three appearances have come over a period of 29 months, which isn’t a reflection on the left-hander’s abilities but more a pointer to the logjam for places in the Indian batting which, despite its recent spin-infested afflictions at home, is still a formidable force.

Each of the 26-year-old’s caps has come because someone else has been unavailable. His debut, against England in March 2024, was a proverbial last-minute development, after Rajat Patidar was ruled out with an injury to his left ankle on the morning of the match. Summoned at little notice, Padikkal hardly looked out of place at No. 4, stroking his way to a majestic 65 marked by handsome strokes through the off-side off the back foot on a surface that encouraged that style of play.

Eight and a half months later, as India lined up for the first of five Tests against Australia at the sprawling Optus Stadium in Perth, out went the SOS to the Karnataka batter, this time because Shubman Gill was unavailable after fracturing his left thumb while fielding in the slips in an intra-squad simulation match. Despite having had greater time to come to terms with his overseas debut, Padikkal found little joy in the Western Australia capital in the first innings, nicked off by Josh Hazlewood for a 23-ball duck. He batted with a little more composure in the second innings as he came in on the back of a 201-run opening stand between Yashasvi Jaiswal and K.L. Rahul, but couldn’t progress beyond 25 as he was dismissed for the second time in the Test by Hazlewood.

Since then, it has been a whirlwind ride for the rangy left-hander, majestic and authoritative with an all-round game that he has used as an ally in domestic and franchise cricket. He had a fantastic time of it in IPL 2026 for defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru, fusing aggression with consistency in making 464 runs at a wonderful strike-rate of 168.72. Only Virat Kohli (675) and skipper Patidar (501) made more runs for the holders, and of those who made at least 250 runs, only Patidar (192.69) and Tim David (188.27) boasted a better rate of scoring. To say that Padikkal was one of the engine rooms as the Bengaluru franchise emulated Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians by becoming only the third franchise to retain the IPL crown will be a gross understatement.

Leader of sorts

Within the RCB setup, Padikkal had grown into a leader of sorts. New skipper Patidar was clearly in charge, but Padikkal was no longer one of the happy-go-lucky boys. Given a high-profile role at No. 3 to take on the bowling from the get-go, Padikkal had grown into that responsibility; the fear of being dismissed was replaced by a quiet confidence in his assiduous preparation, and it was hardly a surprise to see him repeatedly deposit his first ball out of the park, with correctness and elegance and no more than a semblance of power.

That he was growing in stature had earlier been evidenced by Amit Verma’s selection panel bestowing on him the captaincy of the Karnataka Ranji Trophy side midway through a stop-start campaign that was seemingly taking them nowhere. As they relieved Mayank Agarwal of the leadership role, the hat sat snugly on Padikkal’s head; justifying the show of faith, the new captain reeled off several impactful knocks as he hauled his team to the title round, where the hosts came up short against an inspired Jammu & Kashmir in the final in Hubbali.

His exploits caught the eye of Gautam Gambhir, the Indian head coach, and chief selector Ajit Agarkar. India had rewarded Karun Nair’s stellar domestic run by recalling him to the Test set-up after a long gap on the tour of England last summer, but Karun didn’t exactly cash in, making just a solitary half-century in the final Test at the Oval to play himself out of contention. A disastrous set of matches against South Africa at home in November last meant India had to revisit their options going forward as their World Test Championship aspirations hung by a slender thread.

Padikkal was earmarked as a sure-shot Test option, though no one was quite sure when his turn would come. There was a slant towards Dhruv Jurel to occupy a middle-order position, so if Padikkal had to be accommodated, it would have to be in the top three. But the decision-makers had thrown their weight behind the performing opening duo of Rahul and Jaiswal and the perceived promise at No. 3 of Sai Sudharsan, so it seemed as if Padikkal’s time wasn’t nigh yet.

But as is often the case, one man’s misfortune is another’s opportunity. Sudharsan, not exactly translating backing and potential into consistent performances, seemed to have nailed down the No. 3 berth after making centuries for India ‘A’ in consecutive unofficial ‘Tests’ in Sri Lanka in June and July, until a stress reaction in his big toe led to him being ruled out of the ongoing Test series. Arrive Padikkal, stage left. This time, as he took a bow after a virtuoso performance, there was a strong, lingering feeling that he wouldn’t have to wait another 21 months for his next Test appearance.

Pivotal position

The No. 3 position is a massively responsible, pivotal one in Test cricket. India have been blessed with exceptional personnel who manned that spot for long periods; since the turn of the millennium, the two men who made No. 3 their very own were Rahul Dravid, Padikkal’s Statemate and the former National captain, and Cheteshwar Pujara.

From the middle of 2023 until last summer, when he was named Rohit Sharma’s successor as the Test captain, Gill was a prolific scorer after stepping into Pujara’s shoes in the Caribbean. But once Gill dropped down to No. 4 — the spot opened up after Kohli’s Test retirement — the quest for the No. 3 began afresh.

In the last few years, India have tried out numerous options in a desperate bid to unearth a dependable hand that can steer the ship through choppy waters. That quest has taken them through a fair few names — Sudharsan, the aforementioned Karun, Rahul himself and Washington Sundar — but the fact that no one had scored a Test century from No. 3 since Gill in September 2024 against Bangladesh in Chennai reiterated that they had yet to button down a one-for-the-future choice. Sudharsan emerged as the one that enjoyed the backing of the coach and the captain, but now, Padikkal has stolen a march and has the chance to build on the gains of the Galle Test next week in the Sri Lankan capital.

Padikkal’s first of what is certain to be several Test tons was a win for planning and preparation. Between the ‘A’ tour in which he scored 12, 67 and 94 and embarking for Sri Lanka again, Padikkal trained hard at the Karnataka Institute of Cricket with personal coach Naseeruddin Mohammed. It wasn’t just mindless, ‘let’s get through the grind’ training; a lot of thought had gone into what were the areas that needed to be addressed. Among them was getting a feel of playing consistently against the red Kookaburra ball, and getting used to different types of spinners — variety- and height-wise — on pitches offering varying degrees of turn in a concerted bid to replicate what was expected to be on offer during the Tests in Sri Lanka.

Batters often make minute, conditions-based technical adjustments that are so subtle that they often go unnoticed. In the IPL, for instance, Padikkal relied heavily on an upright stance. At KIOC, he worked hard to stay low so that he could get to the pitch of the ball to smother turn. Hard hands are a must in T20 cricket but an absolute no-no on turning tracks, so Padikkal embarked on another exciting journey to consciously keep the hands softer, to drop his wrists, so that he didn’t put the close-in cordon in business.

Staking a claim

All this, even when he wasn’t sure that he’d get a look-in. Ten days back in Colombo, with Sudharsan’s tour banging in the balance, Padikkal staked his claim all over again with an unbeaten 142 against an SLC XI, and once the Tamil Nadu left-hander was officially ruled out, it was obvious that Padikkal’s time to rise and shine was imminent.

What stood out when he took guard at the Galle International Stadium on Saturday, day one of the first Test, was his self-belief. It must have helped that he walked out to join his senior Karnataka colleague, because Rahul and he share a terrific relationship with the older man taking his state captain under his wing, so to say. Padikkal started like he often did in the IPL, with a pulled four (off debutant off-spinner Keshara Nuwantha) off the first ball he faced. A couple of deliveries later, he put on his dancing shoes to shimmy down the track and deposit experienced left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya over the long-on fence. Padikkal had bared his hand, but Sri Lanka had nothing to counter him with.

The day-one surface had plenty for the spinners, but Padikkal was unstoppable. Without hitting a stroke in anger, he moved through the gears effortlessly, overshadowing Rahul’s calm, unflustered presence with a glittering array of delectable strokes. The decisiveness in foot movement was the most standout feature as he ended a 35-innings wait for an Indian No. 3 to keep his tryst with three-figures in Test cricket.

By the time he was finally dismissed after five and a half hours of the most compelling presence in the middle, Padikkal had eased — there really is no more appropriate word — to 167. In all the years that India have travelled to Sri Lanka, only Sachin Tendulkar (203), Virender Sehwag (201) and Shikhar Dhawan (190) have registered a numerically more substantial individual score. That Padikkal wasn’t satisfied with just a tryst with three-figures but aimed bigger and higher must delight Gill and Gambhir no end.

Having fired the first salvo, it’s entirely up to Padikkal to make himself undroppable. And thereby to make sure that he doesn’t keep having to look over his shoulder.

Sai Sudharsan has made a strong case for himself by scoring heavily for India-A in Sri Lanka.
| Photo Credit: R. Ragu