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India post 168/2 as Padikkal hits century against Sri Lanka XI
Devdutt Padikkal scored a century as India reached 168 for 2 in reply to Sri Lanka XI’s 363 for 8 declared on day two of the Colombo warm-up match.
India posted 168 for 2 with Devdutt Padikkal scoring a century in reply to Sri Lanka XI’s first innings total of 363 for 8 declared, on day two of the Colombo warm-up match.
Sri Lanka XI’s innings was built around half-centuries from Nishan Fernando (66) and Ravindu Rasantha (71), and 52 from captain Sonal Dinusha, before India’s spinners closed out the innings.
India’s reply began with an early setback as Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed for a two-ball duck in the second over by Vishwa Fernando, before KL Rahul and Padikkal added 96 runs.
Rahul scored 40 off 67 balls with five fours and a six before being dismissed, while Padikkal went on to his century after surviving a dropped chance off his own bowling the ball before.
India trailed by 195 runs as the match continued, with the tourists building toward a stronger reply.
The fixture is India’s final preparation before the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka begins on August 15, 2026, with captain Shubman Gill’s finger injury still under assessment.
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.
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.
Photo by Storm machine, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0