File photo of Gautam Gambhir© AFP
After winning the first Test, India made a confident start against Sri Lanka in the second Test in Colombo. Devdutt Padikkal was again in fine form. After a classy ton in the first Test, the No. 3 batter scored 117 in the second Test too. Padikkal is playing as Sai Sudharsan is injured, and the Karnataka batter has made a strong statement. Earlier, Gambhir had talked about the need to back Sudharsan as a long-term No. 3 prospect. Speaking ahead of the second Test, Srikkanth said Gambhir will jump after winning against sides like Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
“Gambhir has no work. How can you replace Padikkal going forward with the 200-plus runs he has scored in the first Test? Gambhir just says something, and anyway he has no work in the Sri Lankan series because Sri Lanka is a bad side and India will surely win. He’ll jump after winning against sides like Sri Lanka and Afghanistan,” Krishnamachari Srikkanth was quoted as saying by Sportskeeda.
“I am not trying to be harsh on Gambhir. He was a good player and is a good reader of the game. But he can be a bit more communicative. He was very effective as a player, though.”
On Day 1 of the second Test, Devdutt Padikkal scored his second Test century and shared two crucial partnerships to help India reach 300/5 at stumps on Sunday.
Continuing his top form from the first match, when he scored 167 runs in the first innings to set up a big win, Padikkal made 117 off 193 deliveries. He spent nearly five hours at the crease and hit 12 boundaries.
He got reprieves as soon as he came in to bat when Sonal Dinusha at cover and captain Dhananjaya de Silva at slip dropped two sharp catches. From there, he batted with concentration, sharing 120 runs for the third wicket with captain Shubman Gill and 74 runs for the fourth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja before being bowled by off-spinner Keshara Nuwantha.
With AP inputs
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