Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva admitted that India's top-order batters KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal made the decisive difference in the first Test, which India won by a comprehensive 165-run margin at the Galle International Stadium. After winning the toss and opting to bat first, India piled up a mammoth 464 runs, with Rahul crafting a patient 82 and Padikkal dominating with a magnificent 167.

Dhananjaya acknowledged that those substantial knocks put his team on the back foot right from the start. "It was good to bat on the first three days, but when Rahul and Padikkal got those starts and converted them into big scores, the pressure was always on us," he said at the post-match presentation. Sri Lanka fought back in their first innings with Sonal Dinusha's century and Niroshan Dickwella's 80, but still fell short at 284. India then declared their second innings at 193, setting a challenging target of 372.

The hosts began brightly but crumbled to 84 for 4. Dhananjaya (59) and Dinusha (84) added 95 runs to revive hopes, but Ravindra Jadeja broke the stand. Debutant spinner Manav Suthar then ran through the lower order with sensational figures of 6 for 55, completing a match-haul of 10 wickets and bowling Sri Lanka out for 206. Reflecting on the loss, Dhananjaya said, "From the second day onwards, we were in the game, and the boys fought hard. But losing early wickets put us under pressure."

He also conceded that losing the toss played a role, adding, "Maybe, yeah, because they got runs on the board first." The victory gives India a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, with the second Test set to begin on August 23 in Colombo.