Devdutt Padikkal Breaks 58-Year-Old Record, Goes Past Pujara; Becomes First Indian In History To Achieve Rare Feat

Devdutt Padikkal etched his name in the history books as he converted his maiden Test century into a Daddy Hundred on the second day of play in the first Test match between India and Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium on Sunday (August 16). The star Indian batter made 167 runs in 230 balls before being stumped by Prabath Jayasuriya.

Padikkal completed his century on the first day of play after replacing the injured Sai Sudharsan from the playing XI. This marked only his third outing for India in Test cricket and his first appearance for the national team since the first Test of the 2024-25 Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in Perth nearly two years ago. The left-hander's knock included 15 boundaries and one six.

Devdutt Padikkal Creates History

Padikkal became only the fifth Indian in history to score a 150+ individual knock in Sri Lanka after Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Shikhar Dhawan, and Cheteshwar Pujara. The 26-year-old is the fourth to achieve the feat, with Tendulkar being the only one to do so outside the picturesque Galle International Stadium.

Meanwhile, Padikkal broke Pujara's record and became the youngest Indian to achieve the feat. No one before him had previously reached the milestone before turning 29.

Youngest Indians To Score 150 In Sri Lanka

Player	Age	Runs	Venue	Year
Devdutt Padikkal	26 years, 39 days	167	Galle	2026
Cheteshwar Pujara	29 years, 182 days	153	Galle	2017
Virender Sehwag	29 years, 285 days	201	Galle	2008
Shikhar Dhawan	31 years, 223 days	190	Galle	2017
Sachin Tendulkar	37 years, 93 days	203	Colombo (SSC)	2010

Padikkal also went past Pujara and became the Indian number three with the highest individual score in a Test match in Sri Lanka. Apart from the two mentioned players, no other batter from the Asian ginats has walked out to bat after the loss of the first wicket and scored above 150.

Highest Individual Scores By Indian Number 3s In Sri Lanka

Player	Runs	Venue	Year
Devdutt Padikkal	167	Galle	2026
Cheteshwar Pujara	153	Galle	2017
Cheteshwar Pujara	133	Colombo (SSC)	2017
Ajinkya Rahane	126	Colombo (PSS)	2015
Vinod Kambli	125	Colombo (SSC)	1993

Overall, it is the second-highest individual score by an Indian number three against Sri Lanka in a Test match behind Rahul Dravid's 177 at Ahmedabad at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. Padikkal joins Dravid and Pujara as the only Indians to score a 150+ score against the island nation from this batting position in a Test match.

Devdutt Padikkal Breaks 58-Year-Old Record

Meanwhile, Padikkal broke a 58-year-old record and registered the highest individual score by a left-handed Indian number three in history away from home. Overall, he is second on the list behind Vinod Kambli, who batted at the position and scored 227 and 224 against Zimbabwe and England in 1993 at Delhi and Mumbai, respectively.

Highest Individual Scores By Left-Handed Indian: Number Three Away From Home

Player	Runs	Opponent	Venue	Year
Devdutt Padikkal	167	Sri Lanka	Galle	2026
Ajit Wadekar	143	New Zealand	Wellington	1968
Sourav Ganguly	136	England	Nottingham	1996
Sourav Ganguly	131	Lord's	Lord's	1996
Vinod Kambli	125	Sri Lanka	Colombo (SSC)	1993

Padikka's 167 is also the second-highest individual score by an Indian left-handed batter on Sri Lankan soil behind Shikhar Dhawan's 190 at Galle in 2017. It is the joint fourth-most runs made in an innings by a leftie batter from India against Sri Lanka alongside Gambhir's 167 in 2009 at Kanpur. Apart from Dhawan, only Ravindra Jadeja (175 in Mohali in 2022) and Sourav Ganguly (173 in Mumbai in 1997) are ahead of him in the list.

Meanwhile, Padikkal's ton on the first day was a special occasion, as it came on 15th August. He became the first Indian to score a century in international cricket on Independence Day.