Padikkal’s century lifts India to 168/2 against Sri Lanka XI

Devdutt Padikkal’s century lifted India to 168 for 2 in reply to Sri Lanka XI’s first innings total of 363 for 8 declared, on day two of the Colombo warm-up fixture.

Sri Lanka XI’s total was built on half-centuries from Nishan Fernando (66) and Ravindu Rasantha (71), plus 52 from captain Sonal Dinusha, with India’s spin attack sharing the wickets on day one.

India’s reply began poorly with Yashasvi Jaiswal dismissed for a two-ball duck in the second over by Vishwa Fernando, before KL Rahul and Padikkal put together a 96-run stand.

Rahul fell for 40 off 67 balls, striking five fours and a six, but Padikkal pushed on to his century after surviving a dropped caught-and-bowled chance the ball before.

India trailed by 195 runs as the warm-up match continued, with the visitors looking to build a strong reply ahead of the Test series.

The fixture is India’s final preparation before a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka begins on August 15, 2026, while captain Shubman Gill’s finger injury continues to be monitored.

Kuldeep Yadav finished with figures of 2 for 76 for India, while Ravindra Jadeja and Manav Suthar also picked up wickets as India’s spinners shared the workload against Sri Lanka XI’s middle order.

Jaiswal’s dismissal for a two-ball duck, bowled by Vishwa Fernando in the second over, gave Sri Lanka XI an early breakthrough before Rahul and Padikkal steadied India’s reply.

The three-day warm-up fixture at the Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground in Colombo is India’s final assignment before the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka begins on August 15, 2026.

Vice-captain KL Rahul has continued to lead the side through the warm-up fixture, with head coach Gautam Gambhir overseeing preparations for a squad featuring several relatively new faces in the Test set-up.

Sri Lanka XI had declared their first innings at 363 for 8 on day one, with Nishan Fernando making 66, Ravindu Rasantha 71, captain Sonal Dinusha 52 and Ramesh Mendis 32.

Photo by Storm machine, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0