Sri Lanka’s past Test tours to India

A barren run

1982 [Drawn 1]
Sri Lanka’s inaugural tour of India in 1982 produced an honourable draw for Test cricket’s newcomers. In the one-off Test match played at the famous Chepauk Stadium in Madras (now Chennai), doubts about Sri Lanka’s ability to last five days had persisted before the start of the Test, but on a perfect batting strip their adventurous stroke play for which they had become synonymous won them many admirers. Their cricket was reflected in the way Roy Dias and Duleep Mendis rescued them from poor starts in both innings – a result of losing their established opener Sidath Wettimuny through injury. Mendis batting with masterly efficiency became the first Sri Lankan batsman to score a century in each innings of a Test (getting identical figures of 105 and 105), a feat achieved previously against India only by Australia’s Sir Donald Bradman and West Indian Everton Weekes. Dias who played dazzling front foot drives exposed the Indian bowling’s vulnerability under pressure with two splendid innings of 60 and 97. The pair added 153 for the third wicket in the first innings to help Sri Lanka recover from 11-2 to 346 and 110 in the second innings from 47-2 to 394. Mendis reached his hundred in the first innings with a six to long-on scored off 123 balls (17 fours, 1 six) but was a bit more cautious in approaching his century in the second innings as Sri Lanka had a deficit of 220 to clear. Sri Lanka were taken to safety by young all-rounder Anura Ranasinghe who hit an aggressive 77 and shared a stand of 89 with Somachandra de Silva (46 n.o.) which left India a target of 175 to chase in 53 minutes and 20 mandatory overs. India’s hopes of winning were high while Sandeep Patil and Kapil Dev were together but the attempt fizzled out after their dismissals in quick succession and towards the end it was India who were fighting to save the Test. India’s first innings was dominated by an opening stand of 156 between Sunil Gavaskar (155) and Arun Lal (63). India declared after Dilip Vengsarkar had missed a century by ten runs and Patil had hit an unbeaten 114. The match aggregate of 1441 runs was a new record for a Test in India.

One-off Test at Madras: Drawn.
Sri Lanka 346 (R Dias 60, D Mendis 105, R Madugalle 46, DS de Silva 49, Kapil Dev 3/97, D Doshi 5/85) and 394 (Dias 97, Mendis 105, A Ranasinghe 77, DS de Silva 46, Kapil Dev 5/110, Doshi 3/147)
India 566-6 decl (S Gavaskar 155, Arun Lal 63, D Vengsarkar 90, S Patil 114 n.o., Kapil Dev 31, Madan Lal 37 n.o.) and 135-7 (Patil 46, Y Sharma 31, Kapil Dev 30, A de Mel 5/68).
1986-87 [India 2, Sri Lanka 0, Drawn 1]

Sri Lanka scored plenty of runs topping 500 on each occasion in the two lead-up matches to the three Test series, but against quality bowling their batsmen showed their incompetence to come to terms with spin which proved to be their undoing in the series. Sidath Wettimuny and Ravi Ratnayeke contributed to Sri Lanka’s first century opening partnership in Tests when they put on 159 in the first Test played at Kanpur. Ratnayeke missed out on a maiden Test hundred by seven runs. Sri Lanka battled not only against the Indian bowling but also rain and fog to total a decent 406. The total was quickly and aggressively matched by India who ran up 676-7 largely through a sixth wicket stand of 272 between Mohammad Azharuddin (199) and Kapil Dev (163) who both made career best scores. Earlier Sunil Gavaskar had set the tone for the Indian innings with a sound knock of 176.

On a Nagpur pitch that took turn from the first day the Lankan batsmen showed their nervousness in handling the spin of left-armer Maninder Singh and were put out for totals of 204 and 141. Maninder mesmerized the Lankan batsmen for career best figures of 7 for 51 and ten wickets in the match. India’s total of 451-6 was constructed around centuries by Mohinder Amarnath and Dilip Vengsarkar.

On an under-prepared pitch at Cuttack where the bounce and movement were unpredictable Sri Lanka was dismissed under 200 in both innings to lose by an innings. Once more it was spin that proved their undoing with Maninder, Shivlal Yadav and Ravi Shastri picking up 14 wickets among them. On such a pitch Vengsarkar’s knock of 166 was especially praiseworthy.

1st Test at Kanpur: Drawn
Sri Lanka 420 (S Wettimuny 79, Ravi Ratnayeke 93, R Dias 50, A Rantunga 52, B Arun 3/76)
India 676-7 (S Gavaskar 176, D Vengsarkar 57, M Azharuddin 199, Kapil Dev 163, Ravi Ratnayeke 4/132)

2nd Test at Nagpur: India won by an inns & 106 runs.
Sri Lanka 204 (A de Silva 33, A Ranatunga 59, Rumesh Ratnayake 32 n.o., Maninder Singh 3/56, S Yadav 5/76) and 141 (Ravi Ratnayeke 54, D Mendis 38, Maninder 7/51).
India 451-6 decl (R Lamba 53, M Amarnath 131, D Vengsarkar 153, S Gavaskar 74).

3rd Test at Cuttack: India won by an inns & 67 runs.
India 400 (K Srikkanth 40, M Amarnath 39, D Vengsarkar 166, Kapil Dev 60, Ravi Ratnayeke 5/85, D Anurasiri 4/71)
Sri Lanka 191 (A Gurusinha 40, A Ranatunga 30, R Dias 49, Kapil Dev 4/69, Maninder Singh 4/41) and 142 (D Mendis 27, S Yadav 3/32, R Shastri 4/11).
1990-91 [India 1]

On an under-prepared Chandigarh pitch Sri Lanka were no match for the 21-year-old left-arm spinner from Hyderabad Venkatapathy Raju and succumbed to an innings defeat inside four days. The tour was hastily arranged and Sri Lanka was ill-prepared for it. India scored only 288 on a pitch viewed suspiciously by both sides, thanks largely to opener Ravi Shastri’s patient knock of 88 off 224 balls. Raju’s nagging accuracy and genuine spin on a pitch where the ball kept disturbingly low brought him figures of 6 for 12 as Sri Lanka was dismissed for 82, their lowest Test score at the time - Asanka Gurusinha contributing a delightful unbeaten 52 as five batsmen were dismissed without scoring. Following-on the Lankan batsmen put on a better display on an improving pitch but their total of 198 was insufficient to make India bat again. The players’ morale was not lifted by some of the decisions made by two novice umpires – one over-eager to give batsmen out, the other quite the opposite.

One-off Test at Chandigarh: India won by an inns & 8 runs.
India 288 (R Shastri 88, M Prabhakar 31, S Manjrekar 39, K More 37 n.o., Rumesh Ratnayake 3/60, J Warnaweera 3/90, R Madurasinghe 3/60)
Sri Lanka 82 (A Gurusinha 52 n.o., V Raju 6/12) and 198 (R Mahanama 48, A Ranatunga 42, H Tillakaratne 55, Kapil Dev 4/36, Prabhakar 3/44).
1993-94 [India 3, Sri Lanka 0]

Sri Lanka was soundly beaten by India in all three Tests each time by an innings and inside four days – results which in later years when match fixing was being investigated pointed out to two of Sri Lanka’s prime batsmen captain Arjuna Ranatunga and his deputy Aravinda de Silva being involved in. However the only real controversy at the time was provoked by the umpiring. Wisden said: “Sri Lanka manager Bandula Warnapura claimed the batting failures in the first two Tests owed as much to his players’ nerves waiting for the next bad decision as to bad shots…” This was the last series played with two local umpires officiating, before the ICC decided that one from its panel should officiate with a local umpire for future Test series.

On the turning pitches Sri Lanka’s batsmen were no match for the Indian spinners Venkatapathy Raju, Anil Kumble and Rajesh Chauhan who helped themselves to 44 of the 59 wickets to fall to bowlers in the series. Opener Roshan Mahanama was Sri Lanka’s top bat averaging 47 in the series. Centuries by Navjot Sidhu and Sachin Tendulkar saw India reach a formidable 511 in the first Test played at Lucknow, the world’s 72nd Test venue. Sidhu was particularly severe on off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan whom he hit for six of his eight sixes in his innings of 124. Sri Lanka failed to build on a century opening partnership between Roshan Mahanama and Dulip Samaraweera and folded up tamely for 218. Forced to follow-on they fared even worse totaling a modest 174 as leg-spinner Kumble ran through the batting taking seven wickets giving him 11 for the match.

Sidhu and Tendulkar both missed out on back-to-back centuries in the second Test played at Bangalore but skipper Mohammed Azharuddin crossed three-figures and ensured India topped 500 for the second time in the series. Muralitharan and left-armer Don Anurasiri shared the brunt of the bowling reeling off 120 overs between them taking five wickets. Sri Lanka’s resistance was feeble with only Ruwan Kalpage in the first innings and Hashan Tillekeratne in the second getting past fifty.

Sri Lanka’s joy of winning the toss and batting first for the first time in the series in the third Test at Ahmedabad was short lived as they were bundled out for 119 with fast bowler Kapil Dev becoming the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket surpassing Richard Hadlee’s (then) world record of 431 wickets when he had Tillekeratne caught at forward short leg. Azharuddin’s six-hour century gave India a handy lead of 239. Sri Lanka was put out for 222 by Raju’s destructive spell saw him take six wickets including 11 for the match.

1st Test at Lucknow: India won by an inns & 119 runs.
India 511 (N Sidhu 124, S Tendulkar 142, M Azharuddin 47, S Manjrekar 61, Kapil Dev 42, N Mongia 44, M Muralitharan 5/162)
Sri Lanka 218 (R Mahanama 73, D Samaraweera 42, P Dassanayake 36, A Kumble 4/69) and 174 (Mahanama 45, H Tillekeratne 47, Kumble 7/59).

2nd Test at Bangalore: India won by an inns & 95 runs.
India 541-6 decl (N Sidhu 99, V Kambli 82, S Tendulkar 96, M Azharuddin 108, S Manjrekar 39, Kapil Dev 53 n.o., M Muralitharan 4/179)
Sri Lanka 231 (R Mahanama 47, R Kaplage 63, M Prabhakar 4/82, Kapil Dev 3/73, A Kumble 3/50) and 215 (Mahanama 36, H Tillekeratne 80, Kumble 3/64)

n 3rd Test at Ahmedabad: India won by an inns & 17 runs.
Sri Lanka 119 (P Wickremasinghe 22, V Raju 5/38, R Chauhan 3/8) and 222 (Mahanama 63, H Tillekeratne 40, Raju 6/87, Chauhan 3/45).
India 358 (N Sidhu 43, V Kambli 57, M Azharuddin 152, M Muralitharan 3/79, A de Silva 3/50).
1997-98 [India 0, Sri Lanka 0, Drawn 3]

A lack of penetrative bowling by both teams saw the series peter out to a nil-all draw. India held the whip hand throughout the series but Sri Lanka were quite happy to come out of India unbeaten considering the fact that their last three tours there had resulted in six innings defeats in seven Tests.

India was deprived of certain victory in the first Test played at Mohali by the brilliance of Aravinda de Silva whose unbeaten century under six and a half hours earned a draw for his team. In the Sri Lanka first innings opener Marvan Atapattu returning to the venue where he made his Test debut seven years ago scored his maiden Test hundred. India’s innings of 515 was highlighted by centuries from Navjot Sidhu and Sourav Ganguly.

The second Test at Nagpur was marred by rain which allowed only one innings to be completed. India choosing to bat first made 485 with Rahul Dravid and Ganguly missing out on centuries.

India held the upperhand again in the third Test at Mumbai but could not produce the incisive bowling to convert their advantage into victory. A dazzling 256-run partnership between Ganguly and skipper Sachin Tendulkar who both made big hundreds saw India reach 512. Sri Lanka replied in bold fashion with Sanath Jayasuriya smashing Javagal Srinath for eight fours in racing to a half century off 41 balls. His batting was in direct contrast to Atapattu who moved serenely to two runs within another Test hundred before being dismissed. Wicket-keeper Lanka de Silva had ten stitches inserted in his left cheek when a bouncer from Srinath broke through the grille of his helmet. India’s declaration in the second innings left Sri Lanka chasing 333 for victory in 94 overs on a wearing pitch.

1st Test at Mohali: Drawn.
Sri Lanka 369 (S Jayasuriya 53, M Atapattu 108, R Mahanama 42, A de Silva 33, A Ranatunga 30, K Dharmasena 37 n.o., J Srinath 4/92, A Kuruvilla 4/88) and 251-6 (Atapattu 31, A de Silva 110 n.o., Srinath 3/75)
India 515-9 decl (N Mongia 57, N Sidhu 131, R Dravid 34, M Azharuddin 53, S Ganguly 109, A Kuruvilla 35 n.o., M Muralitharan 3/174).

2nd Test at Nagpur: Drawn.
India 485 (N Sidhu 79, R Dravid 92, M Azharuddin 62, S Ganguly 99, A Kumble 78, R Pushpakumara 5/122) v Sri Lanka.

3rd Test at Mumbai: Drawn.
India 512 (N Sidhu 35, R Dravid 93, S Ganguly 173, S Tendulkar 148, R Pushpakumara 3/108, K Dharmasena 3/144) and 181-9 decl (Sidhu 43, Dravid 85, Dharmasena 5/57)
Sri Lanka 361 (S Jayasuriya 50, M Atapattu 98, Dharmasena 40, A de Silva 66, R Chauhan 4/48) and 166-7 (Jayasuriya 37, Atapattu 31, R Mahanama 35, Chauhan 3/59, A Kumble 3/56).

2005-06 [India 2, Sri Lanka 0, Drawn 1]
The spin combination of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh wrapped a spell around the Sri Lankan batsmen as they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat after the first Test at Chennai was affected by Cyclone Baaz reducing it to a non-event. Sri Lanka gained a slight psychological advantage by dismissing India for 167 and replying with 168-4, but in the remaining two Tests India took control to record victories with Kumble and Harbhajan playing the dominant roles. Sachin Tendulkar became the record holder for the most number of Test centuries when he passed Sunil Gavaskar’s record of 34 with a century at Delhi. Muthiah Muralitharan returned his best figures against India taking 7 for 100 in the first innings. Sri Lanka’s batting revolved around two batsmen Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene who scored a fifty apiece in each innings. In the third Test at Ahmedabad, Sri Lanka reduced India to 97-5 but failed to finish off the job as they recovered to score 398 with VVS Laxman making a century and the late order of MS Dhoni and Irfan Pathan counter-attacking fiercely. Sri Lanka was never in the game after conceding a first innings lead of 192 and only Tillakaratne Dilshan held firm with identical knocks of 65 in each innings as Harbhajan and Kumble ran through the batting.

• 1st Test at Chennai: Drawn
  India 167 (V Sehwag 36, R Dravid 32, MS Dhoni 30, C Vaas 4/20)
  Sri Lanka 168-4 (K Sangakkara 30, M Jayawardene 71, T Samaraweera 35 n.o., A Kumble 3/41).'
• 2nd Test at Delhi: India won by 188 runs.
  India 290 (VVS Laxman 69, S Tendulkar 109, S Ganguly 40, M Muralitharan 7/100) and 375-6 decl (I Pathan 93, R Dravid 53, Ganguly 39, Yuvraj Singh 77 n.o., Dhoni 51 n.o.)
  Sri Lanka 230 (M Atapattu 88, M Jayawardene 60, I Pathan 3/34, A Kumble 6/72) and 247 (Atapattu 67, K Sangakkara 33, Jayawardene 67, T Dilshan 32, Kumble 4/85, Harbhajan Singh 3/70).
• 3rd Test at Ahmedabad: India won by 259 runs.
  India 398 (VVS Laxman 104, MS Dhoni 49, I Pathan 82, L Malinga 3/113, M Muralitharan 3/128) and 316-9 decl (G Gambhir 30, Yuvraj Singh 75, A Agarkar 48, Harbhajan Singh 40 n.o., Muralitharan 3/90, M Bandara 3/84)
  Sri Lanka 206 (M Atapattu 40, K Sangakkara 41, T Dilshan 65, Harbhajan 7/62) and 249 (U Tharanga 47, M Jayawardene 57, Dilshan 65, Harbhajan 3/79, Kumble 5/89).