India began the series with a victory over Sri Lanka by a score of 165 runs. Despite the challenging target of 372 set by the hosts, Indian bowlers demonstrated strong play and restricted the Sri Lankan team to only 206 runs.
The main hero of this impressive victory as a batsman was Devdutt Padikkal, whose innings scored 167 runs, laying a solid foundation for India. Following him, Manav Chaturti trapped the Sri Lankan batsmen in his spin trap. Thanks to this, India gained an undisputed advantage of 1-0 in the two-match Test series.
This victory allowed India to maintain its position in the race for the World Test Championship (WTC 2025-27). The Indian team, which had previously dropped to fifth place before the test in Galle, gained 12 points immediately, bringing their total to 64. India's percentage also rose from 48.15 to 53.33, rekindling hopes of reaching the WTC final.
Thanks to his powerful batting against Sri Lanka, Rishabh Pant set a major record. By scoring 66 runs off just 69 balls in the second innings of the Test, Pant became the highest run-scorer in WTC history for India. In this ranking, he surpassed captain Shubman Gill.
Pant now has 2885 runs in his WTC history, scored in 41 matches and 73 innings. Meanwhile, Shubman Gill is in second place with 2867 runs, scored in 41 matches and 75 innings. During the test in Galle, Captain Gill could not perform outstandingly: he scored 16 runs in the first innings and only 8 runs in the second.
In the ranking of the most successful players in WTC history, Pant has risen to the top. Immediately following him is Indian captain Shubman Gill in second place with 2867 runs. Rohit Sharma, who retired from Tests, is in third place with 2716 runs. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja occupies fourth place with 2632 runs, and legendary batsman Virat Kohli is in fifth position with 2617 runs.
In this match, Pant also achieved another significant record. By hitting two sixteenths in his innings of 66 runs, Pant completed a collection of 100 sixteenths in Test cricket. He became the first Indian player and the fourth in the world to reach this milestone. Before him, this feat was accomplished by Ben Stokes, Brendan McCullum, and Adam Gilchrist.