Dhawan dynamite blows Sri Lanka away

Shikhar Dhawan has unleashed a furious assault on hapless Sri Lanka bowlers to celebrate his return to India's Test team in stunning fashion.

Dhawan put on an incredible 126 runs from just 90 balls between lunch and tea on day one in Galle – the most scored in that period of play for 63 years.

It's the fourth most in the middle session of a day's play ever, but well short of the 173 Denis Compton scored at Trent Bridge against Pakistan in 1954 – the most in a session ever.

The beneficiary of a slice of luck when on 31, he was put down in the slips by Asela Gunaratne. The Sri Lankan fractured his thumb in the attempt and was taken to Colombo for emergency surgery. His participation in the remainder of this three-Test series is in serious doubt.

Not so Dhawan, who entered this Test in a virtual bat-off with opening partner Abhinav Mukund, with preferred opener KL Rahul set to return from injury and viral fever in the second Test.

Mukund failed to impress, nicking behind for 12, but Dhawan could not have been more impressive in his first Test since he faced New Zealand in September last year.

He had missed India's past 11 Tests and appeared intent on making up for lost time from the get-go.

Dhawan clearly enjoys batting at Galle. His last visit here, two years ago, was also his previous Test century. That match ended with him suffering a broken hand that ruled him out of the subsequent two Tests India won to claim the series.

On that occasion he scored 134 but India, bewitched by Rangana Herath, lost the Test match. They recovered to win that series, the beginning of their ascent to the top of the Test rankings, and Herath had been unable to reproduce the same results from two years ago.

Dhawan had been sprightly to move to 64 by lunch on day one, but that paled with what followed after the long interval.

An incredible 23 boundaries followed in the middle session as Dhawan breezed past the century mark, and then past 150.

He also passed his previous best in Test cricket, the 187 he scored on Test debut against Michael Clarke's Australia in Mohali in 2013.

He eventually departed for 190, a miscued shot landing with a fielder with a double-century in sight and just an over before the tea interval.

While on a clearly differently-prepared surface, Dhawan's 126 runs between lunch and tea came at the same venue where Australia had lost 8-52 in a session last year.

Hearath had gone for nearly five an over in Galle by tea, while opening bowler Lahiru Kumara was going at more than seven. Test debutant Danushka Gunathilaka was given a baptism of fire, his four overs disappearing for 33 runs.