Devdutt Padikkal creates a supremely rare record in the history of Indian cricket. He becomes the first-ever Indian batter to secure a century on Independence Day, August 15. The middle-order batter achieves the record in Galle today, during India’s Test match against Sri Lanka.
In the third session of Day 1 of the first of the 2-match Test series, Padikkal completed his Test century and claimed multiple records. The biggest record he claimed was scoring a century as the first-ever Indian cricketer on August 15.
Devdutt Padikkal, the first and the only Indian batter to score a century on August 15
As a left-handed batter who walked into the match as the number three batter for India today, attracted multiple significant records as well. According to Cricbuzz, after Sourav Ganguly, Padikkal is the second left-hander to score a Test hundred from No.3 for India in the 21st century.
Actually, there were not too many left-handed batters who scored centuries as a No.3 batter for the India National Cricket Team. With today’s hundred, Padikkal joins an elite group alongside the legends of Indian cricket like Salim Durani, Bapu Nadkarni, Ajit Wadekar, Eknath Solkar, and Surinder Amarnath.
Multiple records claimed by Devdutt Padikkal
Securing a Test ton from the number three batting position for India, itself a great achievement for Padikkal. For years, the Indian team management has been in search of a prolific batter who could provide stability after one down. Shubman Gill was the batter before Padikkal to score a Test hundred from No.3, which came against Bangladesh in Chennai in September 2024.
According to some other notable stats, in 19 Tests between that India vs Bangladesh match in Chennai and the ongoing match in Galle, India used seven different batters at one-down, and they collectively averaged 27.28 with five 50-plus scores in 35 innings.
No. 3 Indian Batters to Score a Test Century Outside Home in Last 30 years
Sourav Ganguly
Rahul Dravid
VVS Laxman
Cheteshwar Pujara
Ajinkya Rahane
Devdutt Padikkal*
Notably, Devdutt Padikkal has joined the Indian legend Virat Kohli in an exclusive record list. Virat remains the only Indian batter to score a century on Republic Day, and Padikkal is now the only one to complete a hundred on Independence Day.
Indian batters to score a century on
Republic Day – Virat Kohli
Independence Day – Devdutt Padikkal*
Devdutt Padikkal is backed by a series of fantastic outings in First-Class cricket
The selection of Padikkal for the Test series against Sri Lanka was supported by a string to impreossive outings in First-Class games. Before playing an unbeaten 142-run knock in the warm-up match against the Sri Lanka Cricket XI in Colombo, the southpaw got a couple of fifty-plus-run knocks against Sri Lanka A, while batting for the India A team this year.
In the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 semi-final against Uttarakhand, the Kerala-born registered 232-runs in an innings. Against Punjab, in Mohali, Padikkal showcased his class by playing an unbeaten 120-run innings.