The tame home series defeat to South Africa came nearly 10 months back. Yet it still cast a pall over India’s Test future as it hopped across the Indian Ocean for the two-game series against Sri Lanka. Shubman Gill’s team was languishing in fifth place in the World Test Championship and headed to confront the challenge that had brought its collapse against the Proteas: spin.
With an emphatic 165-run triumph over its neighbour in the first game on Wednesday, India banished those demons in Galle.
Devdutt Padikkal, who notched up his maiden Test ton, and Manav Suthar, now the youngest Indian to pick a 10-fer, were the chief architects of this win.
The Karnataka southpaw replaced an injured B. Sai Sudharsan for this Test and might just have pushed him out entirely. He fell to spinners in both innings (167 and 44) but aced the spin challenge.
The inability to sweep had been a glaring deficiency in Indian batters in recent defeats, but Padikkal employed the shot just 12 times in his 230-ball essay in the first innings and yet looked every bit in control. Nothing pointed to his fluency against the tweakers better than his weight transfer. Out of the 175 balls he faced against spinners, Padikkal played 86 off his back foot and 83 off his front. It was only when he hopped down the track for a swing that Padikkal erred and lost his wicket on 167.
With his ergonomic inside-the-line leaves and vigilant stays across both innings, K.L. Rahul too chipped in at the top. Even better was Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant finding crucial runs.
MATCH REPORT | Manav Suthar stars as India takes 1-0 lead with 165-run win
The Indian batters did seem hurried in the second innings, which eventually led to the team folding for 193. But Shubman explained after the game that the paucity of time, due to the impending showers on the final day, forced India’s hand into attacking.
But even on a day-four pitch that offered ample purchase, Pant’s calculated assault (66 off 69), which made him the fastest to complete 100 sixes in Tests, was reminiscent of his flamboyant best.
Padikkal fell to spinners in both innings (167 and 44) but aced the spin challenge.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Padikkal fell to spinners in both innings (167 and 44) but aced the spin challenge.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman missed out on opportunities, but India was far from the team that looked like it would cave in against spin.
However, it was also partly down to the still-inexperienced Sri Lankan bowlers and the strip having enough for batters to survive. It was only when Suthar tightened the noose around the host that the pitch’s true potential would have dawned on Sri Lanka’s spinners.
“He looks like a promising guy and someone who can play for India for a very long time,” Shubman said about Suthar’s 10/131.
Suthar’s metronomic rhythm makes him look ordinary and threatening at once. Ball after ball, Suthar pitched deliveries at a length and forced mistakes. “The subtle variations from the same action, from the same angle, the drift, and his consistency meant that all modes of dismissal are possible, be it bowled, caught behind or lbw,” Rahul said about Suthar.
Suthar’s persistence, however, meant Kuldeep Yadav was once again under-utilised, restricted to just 25 overs and one wicket in the entire game. In the second innings, while Suthar bowled the second over, Kuldeep was not brought into attack until the 29th over.
But it also invariably gives Shubman more leeway to rotate between his options, pairing them with either Mohammed Siraj or Prasidh Krishna through their spells. The pace duo had limited roles in Galle’s conditions but probed the batters enough to not ensure they did not return empty-handed.
For Sri Lanka, the contest lasted the full five days only because of Sonal Dinusha, who nearly became the third from his country to score a century in both innings against India (100 and 84). The left-hander was liberal in using his sweep and reverse-sweep shots.
Niroshan Dickwella and Dhananjaya de Silva were the only others who collected runs. Dinusha and Dickwella added 146 runs in the first innings for the sixth wicket, while Dinusha and de Silva contributed 95 in the second for the fifth.
If not for them, the top-order collapses would have easily spelt an innings-defeat for the host. This remains the most glaring weakness for Sri Lanka as it heads to Colombo with hopes of equalizing the series in four days’ time.
Among bowlers, the silver lining was Prabath Jayasuriya securing seven wickets. The left-arm orthodox will have Suthar’s playbook to learn from and should strive to be Sri Lanka’s go-to option at the historic SSC, a venue that offers similar conditions to Galle.
“[Playing the WTC final] is the ultimate goal, [it is] why we are playing. Test wins don’t come easy and this one is very delightful,” Gill had said after the win on Wednesday.
The blueprint to disrupt India is an open secret. It overcame its weakness once, but just once is never enough. It is up to Sri Lanka to channel its best and throw a spanner in the works.
Published on Aug 19, 2026
