Devdutt Padikkal created history in the second T20I against Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Cricket Stadium in Colombo.
The 21-year-old southpaw became the first cricketer born in this millennium to play for India.
Padikkal scored 29 off 23 balls in his first game, before he was clean bowled by Wanindu Hasaranga.
The highly-rated Padikkal plays for Karnataka in the domestic cricket and don Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) jersey in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Devdutt Padikkal is among the four debutants for India, the other three are Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Rana and Chetan Sakariya.
Padikkal rose through the ranks; he represented India Under-19 and soon earned a call-up to the Karnataka Ranji Trophy side. He made a stroke-filled 77 on his Ranji Trophy debut against Maharashtra in November 2018. Padikkal was acquired by RCB at the player auction before IPL 2019.
The youngster was the emerging player of the tournament in his maiden IPL as he impressed everyone, including Team India and RCB skipper Virat Kohli. Padikkal scored 473 runs, including five half-centuries for RCB in 15 matches.
In the IPL 2020, which was suspended due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Padikkal scored his maiden IPL century against Rajasthan Royals. Padikkal played a swashbuckling knock, scoring 101 off 52 deliveries. This was the fastest century in the IPL by an uncapped player.
The match between India and Sri Lanka was postponed by a day on Tuesday after India’s allrounder Krunal Pandya tested positive for Covid-19.
Eight squad members identified as close contacts have been isolated.The missing out players are Krunal Pandya (who tested positive for Covid-19), Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Manish Pandey, Prithvi Shaw, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, and Krishnappa Gowtham.
