India vs Sri Lanka Live Score, 1st Test day 2: Rain delays start of play in Galle

India are in a dominant position at the end of Day 1 and will continue to pile on runs today and score big in the first innings; meanwhile, Sri Lanka will be hoping to restrict India as much as possible. Do stay with us for all the live updates.

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IND vs SL 1st Test Match 2026 Live: India to take on Sri Lanka. (CREIMAS)

Devdutt Padikkal (131 not out off 178) and Rishabh Pant (27 not out off 36) were unbeaten for India at the play on Day 1 at 288/2. Indian skipper Shubman Gill won the toss and opted to bat first on a flat Galle wicket. Unfortunately, Yashasvi Jaiswal fell early in the first session after being run out.

After that, KL Rahul joined Devdutt Padikkal, and both batted with immense determination. However, KL Rahul suffered cramps in the final session and was forced to retire hurt. Skipper Shubman Gill walked in and played some lovely drives before trying to take on Prabath Jayasuriya down the ground and perished.

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It was hard work for the Sri Lankan bowlers, who kept toiling through the day without much success. While Jayasuriya did bowl tidily, he did not have much success to show for it. Debutant Keshara Nuwanatha has had his moments, but for the major part of his spell he has remained inconsistent.

SCROLL BELOW FOR OF INDIA VS SRI LANKA 1st TEST, DAY 2 FROM GALLE

Live Updates
Aug 16, 2026 10:16 AM IST
India vs Sri Lanka Live Score, 1st Test day 2: Ravindra Jadeja ahead of game

Being a spinner, if I see the wicket is dry, if I see there are a few cracks in the middle of the wicket, I always feel that, okay, it might be good for the spinners because some might turn, some might keep low. So, I always feel if wicket is dry, then you'll get more turn and bounce, as we have on this wicket, because this wicket is also very much on the dry side. The odd ball is turning, odd ball is going straight and keeping low. As the game progresses, I would say more turn and bounce will be there. Spinners will enjoy on this wicket. [On whether the pitch will deteriorate quickly or gradually] Yesterday also when they were bowling, ball was gripping, odd ball was turning from the start. So I would say as the game progresses, we don't know how much weather will allow, but yeah, as the game progresses, wicket will start turning. [Is there any pitch where you felt you must get a minimum of 12 wickets?] A few times, when we played in India, I think one was in Indore and the other one was in Pune where Smith score a hundred. So those two wickets I felt it was looking like a rank turner. As a spinner, if you see the wicket, you always feel happy and you start getting excited. But I don't want to play on the rank turner because I need to score runs as well. So I would prefer a slow turner to start with and as the game progresses, then if ball starts turning, that would be an ideal wicket.

Aug 16, 2026 10:05 AM IST
India vs Sri Lanka Live Score, 1st Test day 2: Bad news

We have some bad news, folks. Here in Galle, the match has been delayed due to rain. Well let's hope we will have resumption soon.

Aug 16, 2026 09:52 AM IST
India vs Sri Lanka Live Score, 1st Test day 2: Pitch report by Sanjay Manjrekar

Teams have scored 600 after winning the toss and batting first, and sometimes they have also been bowled out for 120. So clearly, there are two types of pitches here. The one today is looking very good to me. It looks as if the entire pitch is covered with grass, so there are no rough or patchy areas. If you look at it, the pitch has a very beautiful appearance, which makes me feel that batting should be relatively easy. This is not a rank turner, so let me make that clear first. If you win the toss, you would want to bat first, but for the first 30-40 minutes, you will have to play carefully against the seamers because the pitch hasn't yet lost its colour, which means there is still a little bit of moisture. Whenever there is grass, you can get some lateral movement simply because of the green grass.So this is a pitch where you want to bat first and put up a big score, because batting in the fourth innings in Galle is very difficult. the average score here is around 120-130. So the toss is very important, as always, and both teams will want to bat first and make the most of this beautiful pitch.

Aug 16, 2026 09:43 AM IST
India vs Sri Lanka Live Score, 1st Test day 2: Kuldeep Yadav ahead of yesterday

Obviously, long journey, especially for me, playing here at Galle and be part of the 600th Test is a big feeling and I'm feeling very happy about it. [On India arriving around 10 days early and preparing for the Test series] Look, it was very important, firstly, to get that 10 days of window, and then obviously, practice at Colombo for like six days, and those six days were very good in terms of preparing in all the conditions. But yeah, I mean, we got enough time to prepare for the Test series. [On helping the inexperienced players adapt to Sri Lankan conditions] There are a few guys who are travelling here the first time. But yeah, the conditions are a bit different in terms of the wickets we got in the last few practice sessions. But, they have played enough cricket back home. We had a chat about how the Kookaburra ball behaves. In terms of planning and if you look at the other spinners, we'll get extra bounce here. So those were the chats we had amongst the group. I'm pretty sure they're ready to go. [On the conditions] If you look at the last couple of games which we played at Galle, they were good batting wickets and teams scored very high in the first innings. If you get a spinning track, then probably spin more. It's a good stadium and good wicket to play cricket. And wind plays a factor as well. So I think it'll be a good experience.

Aug 16, 2026 09:38 AM IST
India vs Sri Lanka Live Score, 1st Test day 2: Hola!

Hello and welcome to our live blog of India taking on Sri Lanka on Day 2 of the Galle Test match. Devdutt Padikkal and Rishabh Pant played quite nicely yesterday to close out the day's play and will hope to continue today. Padikkal especially will have a double hundred in sight.

India put two years of spin trouble behind on dominant Day 1 in Sri Lanka

Rahul and Padikkal put up a partnership of 150 runs before the former retired hurt. (BCCI/Creimas Photo)

India dominated Day 1 of the Galle Test against Sri Lanka, reaching 288/2 after choosing to bat first on a pitch expected to deteriorate. The standout feature was not just Devdutt Padikkal’s unbeaten maiden century, but the batting lineup's aggressive, proactive approach against spin—a phase of bowling that had previously troubled them for two years. (Read more from Venkata Krishna B)

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