India’ Left-handed batter Devdutt Padikkal emerged as the standout performer for India during the opening Test against Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium. The twenty-six-year-old Karnataka cricketer delivered a stellar performance for the Shubman Gill-led squad by accumulating 167 runs from 230 deliveries during the first innings. He followed this impressive display with a valuable 44-run knock off 75 balls in the second innings on Tuesday, August 18, 2026.
his total contribution of 211 runs in the match allowed him to enter an exclusive statistical club alongside legendary Indian batsmen Although he fell just short of a well-earned half-century on Day 4. Padikkal officially stands as only the third Indian cricketer, following Rahul Dravid and Sanjay Manjrekar, to amass over 200 runs while batting at the crucial number three position in an away Test match.
Global Milestone Comparison While the Indian record belongs to Dravid, the overarching world record for the highest number of runs scored by a number three batsman in an away Test belongs to former Sri Lanka captain and prolific left-hander Kumar Sangakkara. Padikkal’s recent performance in Galle places him shoulder to shoulder with the finest batting traditions in Test cricket history. Rahul Dravid subsequently established himself as a master of this role throughout his illustrious career, achieving the milestone in five separate away matches across a total of 93 foreign Tests. Dravid holds the national record for the most runs scored by an Indian number three batsman in a single Test, accumulating 305 runs against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in December 2003 through a brilliant 233 in the first innings and an unbeaten 72 in the second innings. Sangakkara piled up a staggering 424 runs against Bangladesh in Chattogram in February 2014, featuring a monumental triple century of 319 runs in the opening innings followed by 105 runs in the second innings.
