Colombo: 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 in Colombo 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.
Then there were the constantly examining Sri Lankan bowlers and the scorching heat and humidity of Colombo for him to tide over.
It was not that the Karnataka man had oodles of experience on his back to fall back upon to counter such tough situations.
Padikkal was playing just the fourth Test of his nascent career but the circumstances forced him to play the lead firefighter’s role.
This century was vastly different from the one he scored at Galle, where the pitch was not remotely challenging in the first two days.
But the SSC deck offered enough bounce and bite, especially for pacers, asking constant questions about his technique and patience.
Padikkal answered each of those searching questions with poise. He reached 50 off 90 balls, driving left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya for a four.
Going past the little landmark only strengthened his resolve, and there was a streak for fortune when Lankan skipper Dhananjaya de Silva shelled a chance at backward point off Keshara Nuwantha when the batter was on 1.
Padikkal was in no mood to look in the mouth of a gift horse, and aced the examination of the far extremes of character that only Test cricket can offer.
Pacers tested his reflexes with short-pitched balls, Padikkal weaved away or tucked them around, and offered a dead bat whenever spinners found some turn and bounce.
Eventually, the much-awaited moment came when he first drove Jayasuriya for a four to reach 99, and two balls later he nudged the spinner to long-on for a single to make a landing on the three-figure zone.
Promptly came off the helmet and the bat was raised skywards for a quick celebration before focusing on the job at hand again.
But Nuwantha had his revenge finally when he pushed a ball through the defence of Padikkal to castle him, but, by then, he had taken the ship to safer shores.
Each of KL Rahul, Jaiswal and Gill had a similar opportunity but failed to kick-on.
Rahul was as restrained as ever but showed a glimpse of his shot-making ability, lifting Jayasuriya for a six straight over the head of the bowler.
But the trouble came without any warning. Rahul went for a square cut off Kumara, but the laden feet shot only produced an edge to stumper Niroshan Dickwella.
Jaiswal was impressive too as he eschewed the cut shot, which has led to his peril often in the past, to a good extent.
The left-hander smashed Kumara for two boundaries in succession, before executing a wonderful cover drive off Jayasuriya.
Just as he warmed-up for a more substantial score, Asitha Fernando produced a peach of a nip-backer to breach his defence and the dismissal followed a little piece of drama.
Fernando gave Jaiswal, who had sledged Dickwella in the second innings of the first Test at Galle, a send-off and the Indian opener turned back to have a few words with Lankan with his helmet touching the forehead of the pacer.
But the situation was defused by home captain De Silva.
Gill also was playing smoothly for his half-century, unfurling some lovely shots like a short-arm pull off Jayasuriya for a boundary.
But a momentary lapse in concentration resulted in an edge off Fernando to Dickwella.
Later, Ravindra Jadeja, who helped Padikkal to milk 74 run for the fourth wicket, was also pinged on his forearm by Kumara, forming a visible swelling.
The veteran all-rounder could not see off the day, leaving a Fernando in-ducker on the length to get bowled.
But India had a Titan in their ranks in Padikkal who saved their day.
