Shikhar Dhawan becomes first Indian batsman to make consecutive centuries in Sri Lanka and breaks other records

India rode on some explosive batting by Shikhar Dhawan, whose lightning innings of 190 runs from 168 balls had placed the Men in Blue on a comfortable 399 runs, on Day 1 of the first Test at Galle against Sri Lanka. This pretty much keeps Virat Kohli and company on the driving seat from where they are likely to dictate the game and hopefully keep their record in Sri Lanka intact.

Interestingly, the 31-year-old, who is India’s regular opener in One Day Internationals, was called in at the last minute after regular Test opener Murali Vijay had to step down owing to his wrist injury. And the left-handed batsman, who was going through a quiet patch in West Indies following his Champions Trophy heroics, broke numerous records in his first innings itself with his fifth century in this format.

This remains his highest individual score so far after his blistering 187-run knock against Australia back in 2013 at Mohali. Galle seems to be one of Dhawan’s favourite scoring grounds as his last Test century, when he scored 134, came at this same venue back in 2015 making him the first Indian batsman to make consecutive centuries in Sri Lanka.  

Dhawan’s quick 126 runs, which came in the session between lunch and tea, makes it the fourth most runs by an individual in the second session of a day's play. Dhawan sits behind England’s Denis Compton, and Wally Hammond, and Australia’s Stan McCabe.

His knock makes him the second Indian to score so many runs in a single session of the day. The first on the list still remains Virender Sehwag against Sri Lanka in 2009. He had scored 133 runs between tea and close at the Brabourne Stadium, going on to make 293. He is also the fourth Indian batsman to score so many runs on an opening day with the previous three slots taken by Virender Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer.

Apart from the individual display, his partnership with Cheteshwar Pujara also sees them in the record books. The 253 runs between them become the highest second-wicket partnership by India against Sri Lanka, where they finally eclipse the 237-run partnership by Sehwag and Rahul Dravid back in 2009.