Shubman Gill was almost glad someone asked him about India’s preparation time for the tour of Sri Lanka. “If we do have an opportunity and if the scheduling allows us to have at least a week or 10 days before the Test match starts, it obviously helps with the preparation,” he beamed one day out from the Galle Test. India had arrived 11 days before the start of the series. Devdutt Padikkal became the walking endorsement of why that was an excellent decision. On Day 1 in Galle, he scored his maiden – and undefeated – Test century. Padikkal spent last week tormenting the Sri Lankan bowlers for the SLC XI in a warm-up game where he scored 142* (164). Between that game and today, the Sri Lankan bowlers haven’t dismissed him for 342 deliveries, and counting. But early sighters of Day 1 were very different. It felt like Padikkal would have to wait a long time for his turn. The overheads were calm and sunny to start off, kites flew nearby and people gathered on the edge of the Galle Fort to get a glimpse of the cricket. On the grass banks at the venue, a small crowd settled in. But conditions in the middle were largely benign. There was turn, but not enough to ruffle feathers.KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal got comfortable in the first hour. Padikkal had to then be summoned because of an unexpected run out where Jaiswal stumbled after colliding with the bowler and was stranded at the same end as Rahul.
