India vs Sri Lanka takeaways: How Padikkal and Suthar sealed 165-run 1st Test win in Galle originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
After a dominant 165-run win in the 1st Test in Galle, The Cricket News’ Jamie Alter explores the takeaways from a convincing India performance against Sri Lanka.
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India made light work of the 1st Test in Galle. Were they too good for Sri Lanka, or were the hosts just not up for the challenge?
Sri Lanka were missing Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis, handed a debut to a 25-year-old spinner, lost their most experienced player, Dinesh Chandimal, to a mid-match injury, and didn’t get the Galle surface they’re used to.
Prabhath Jayasuriya had taken 81 wickets in 11 prior Tests at the venue but had to work hard for his seven wickets this time.
This was a different Galle surface than we usually see — flatter than usual on days one and two, making the toss a big plus for India. Nothing for the pacers, some early turn for the spinners, but never enough to really threaten the batters.
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India will take plenty of positives from their 165-run win.
Padikkal India’s man of the moment vs Sri Lanka
India’s momentum was inspired by two rookies who shaped the victory — beginning with Devdutt Padikkal, Player of the Match for his 211 runs.
Padikkal came into this Test with close to 4,000 first-class runs on the back of two very successful seasons, but it was only his third Test for India. His previous one had come 629 days earlier, and he got his chance only because of an injury to B Sai Sudharsan. So very much a rookie, finding his way at this level.
But he grabbed it, and how. Batting at one-down, Padikkal set India on their way to 462 with a very good 167, showing an array of shots and looking sublime against the spinners. Then, when batting was toughest all match, he added a crucial 44 in India’s second innings.
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Watching the poise with which Padikkal batted in Galle was to marvel at the batting riches India possess. This isn’t a knock on Sudharsan, but he hasn’t shown the confidence or range of shots in his seven Test appearances that Padikkal did in this one match. Sure, Sudharsan has had to bat in tougher conditions, but there was a visible fluency and crispness to Padikkal’s batting that his has lacked.
Sudharsan should, however, be reinstated once fit, based on the potential shown across his 12 Test innings. But Padikkal has made it very hard for the coach and captain to drop him, and if he succeeds next week in Colombo, the 26-year-old will have solidified his place further.
Healthy competition is good. and Padikkal himself, asked about it during the Galle Test, simply said, “That’s how it goes.”
Suthar spins his way into India restraint
The other star of the win was Manav Suthar, playing his second Test. He broke into the squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June on the back of domestic and India A success, taking 6/33 on debut.
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Against tough opposition in Galle, he was a serious contender for Player of the Match, taking 10 wickets with his left-arm spin.
Manav Suthar
Creimas/BCCI
Unlike Ravindra Jadeja, Suthar imparts more spin on the ball. Within his first few overs, he was already extracting more turn than any of Sri Lanka’s four spinners had managed.
His angle against the left-handers was also good — coming from around the stumps to draw batters forward, looking for catches close in and lbw chances.
This was proper Test match bowling from Suthar: a clinical display from a left-arm spinner with a bright future.
Then, after Sri Lanka were set 372, Suthar really came into his own and, to my mind, left the biggest imprint on this win. His ability to extract turn from one of the flattest Galle pitches in memory, allied with the skill of pushing the ball straighter, made for a masterclass in spin bowling.
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Four wickets in the first innings were followed by six in the second, giving the 24-year-old a bowling average of 11.35 after two Tests.
There’s a massive vacuum since Ravichandran Ashwin’s retirement, one that will never really be filled. Jadeja isn’t getting any younger and is probably in his last 12 months as a Test cricketer. Kuldeep Yadav has been hard done by, for sure, but didn’t help his cause with a flat performance in Galle — his only wicket owed more to a terrific one-handed catch by Shubman Gill at short cover than to any rhythm, which continued to elude him.
Suthar is the future, and there’s also the seasoned campaigner from Madhya Pradesh, Saransh Jain, waiting for his chance. Jain is an offspinner who can bat — better than Suthar, in fact — and will push for selection in Asian conditions.
MORE: Manav Suthar biggest gain of Indian cricket: Experts and fans react as India spinner claims 10 wickets in 1st Test vs Sri Lanka
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If the pitch at the SSC in Colombo offers more turn than Galle did, I’d drop Prasidh Krishna and hand Jain a debut for the second Test.
A 2-0 win would be a big result for this transitional Indian team, which next plays in New Zealand before Australia visit for five Tests in 2027.
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Gold click here to read more of Jamie Alter’s thoughts in his regular Cricket News column.
