IND vs SL: ‘It feels great,’ Devdutt Padikkal reacts after registering his maiden Test century in Galle

India batter Devdutt Padikkal made the best use of his opportunity on day one of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on Saturday. Padikkal, playing his first Test since November 2024, slammed an unbeaten 131 to take India to 288/2 at stumps on Saturday.

The Karnataka batter might not have featured for India if Sai Sudharsan was fit. However, a toe injury for the Tamil Nadu batter opened the doors for Padikkal to make his return to the India Test playing XI.

After the day's play on Saturday, Padikkal spoke on the challenging conditions in Galle and explained how determined he was.

Devdutt Padikkal on his century and comeback

“In this knock, determination for me was playing through that tiredness and fatigue that I was feeling, especially towards the third session. I think it was getting really hot, and we were losing a lot of fluid.

"We were sweating all the time. So it was really important that I was determined enough to keep going and keep pushing forward,” the 26-year-old told BCCI in a video uploaded across the Indian cricket board's social media handles.

Devdutt Padikkal was involved in a 150-run partnership with KL Rahul before the latter retired hurt while batting on 77. Currently, Padikkal is involved in an unbeaten 52-run stand with Rishabh Pant, who is not out on 27.

“It wasn't the easiest of wickets to bat on. I think we had to make sure that we didn't play too many last shots. We had to make sure that we kept our minds in the game as long as possible because, like I said, again, when you get tired, it's easy to lose that discipline, and I think as a team we did that well today,” the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) player explained.

Padikkal returned to the India Test setup on the back of an impressive form for Karnataka in domestic cricket as well as in the IPL for RCB. “Patience for me, I think it was more to do with what I've gone through before this game. I think my last Test was in 2024.

"So it's been a long time coming, and I've had to patiently wait, look on from the outside. It's never easy. But at the same time, it gave me time to really work on my game and perfect things that needed perfecting. And I'm really glad that all that hard work came to effect today. It feels great,” the Kerala-born cricketer stated.

"I was a bit nervous towards the end when I got closer to it, but I think that's part of it, and I'm really happy to get over that. Especially this ground, I think even when we came here with the India SI, I got a few runs and even in the warm-up game, obviously I got some runs. So yeah, I guess it's a really special place for me and glad to keep it going," he explained.