The Lions who could never hunt

Touring an opposition can be a tough task. You ask any non-Asian team about the toughest place to play Test cricket and without even a blink they will say India. And Sri Lanka, despite being an Asian team won’t have a different opinion. It started in 1982/83 and their vision to register their first Test win in India is still a far-fetched dream.

The wait doesn’t seem to end. Over the years, Sri Lanka have produced some fantastic Test cricketers in Muttiah Muralitharan, Rangana Herath, Chaminda Vaas, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Aravinda de Silva, Marvan Atapattu and many more. But somehow the Island nation has not been able to leave their mark in the Indian subcontinent. Here in this article, we try to analyze performances of Lankan players in Test matches in India.

Overall record

Sri Lanka’s best performance was in 1982/83 and 1997/98 when they managed to draw the series. 

Collective failure in India for Lankan the batsmen:

Sri Lankan batsmen have not been able to replicate their “global” heroics in the Indian subcontinent. Given the fact that conditions in India and Sri Lanka aren’t very different in terms of climate, pitches and size of the grounds. Their numbers in this part of the world really don’t do justice to their stature. The table below mentions the top 9 batsmen who have played the most number of Test matches in India.

Sri Lankan batsmen in Test matches in India:

Batsmen with at least 5 Test matches in India. Sanath Jayasuriya played 4.

Scrutinizing the numbers properly would solve the question- Why has Sri Lanka never won a Test in India? It is the integrated batting failure. All the players mentioned above used to bat in top 5 and when your top 5 averages in the mid-20s and early-30s then you are bound to lose in a country where racking up huge 1st innings total is considered half the battle won.

Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan are the only folks to have managed an average above 40. Equate their numbers in India with their overall career statistics and you will understand why Lanka fans have every right to be disappointed.

Career Statistics

These are very respectable figures. Mahela Jayawardene, Roshan Mahanama and Tillakaratne Dilshan are the only players who scored runs in India with a better batting average than their career averages. The most noticeable dip is in Kumar Sangakkara’s average. From 57.4, his average drops down to 36.5 in India.

Indian counterparts:

We tried to compare the archives of Indian batsmen during the same time and for an Indian fan, it doesn’t come as a shocker.

Indian batsmen in Test matches vs Sri Lanka in India:

Players with at least 5 Test matches vs Srilanka in India. Gautam Gambhir has also played 5 but since we are making a comparison with top 9 Sri Lankan batsmen, so we had to keep him out.

All the Indian batsmen have got at least 1 century and 4/9 batsmen average above 70. In fact, VVS Laxman is the only batsman who averages below 50 and we are pointing him out for that! That’s how the Indians have played the Lankan bowlers. They have been aggressive, ruthless, precise and heavy run accumulators. Top nine Sri Lankan batsmen have scored only 6 centuries whereas Indians have scored 20.

Career Statistics

Sachin Tendulkar is the only batsman in the list whose average against Sri Lanka is not higher than his career average. Look at MSD, he almost doubled his average against the neighbours!

Bowling combination:

You think of Sri Lanka’s bowling and Murali’s name almost becomes imperative. The highest wicket-taker and the greatest off-spinner along with his bowling partner, the ever so uncanny- Chaminda Vaas just couldn’t do impartiality with their image, flair, expectations and potential. Murali, in one of his recent interviews, mentioned that the Indian Test side he bowled against is the best ever to assemble and it was very tough bowling to those players.

Sri Lankan bowlers in Test matches in India:

Sri Lanka never had the settled bowling side and this is the reason no other bowler has played more than 5 Tests apart from Muralitharan and Vaas. Their bowling averages are higher than what their batsmen could manage in India.

Murali’s ability to control the game and take wickets regularly somehow got wiped out in India and it is hard to believe for he has been an absolute champion for his country. Out of 17 matches that Sri Lanka has played in India, they have lost 10. Out of those 10, they have lost 8 matches by an innings. Just goes to show how good Indian bowlers were on the same surfaces.

Career Statistics

You compare their record in India against India with their career record and it will look like the North Pole and the South Pole. There are extreme differences in the average and strike rate of Murali and Vaas and their underprivileged show in India has been one of the biggest reasons why Sri Lanka has never won a Test match in their previous 17 attempts. On the contrary, Indian bowlers have done exceedingly well in the same period.

Indian bowlers vs Srilanka in India

Bowlers with at least 4 Test matches vs Sri Lanka in India

India always had established spinners in Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Venkatapathy Raju. Their average and strike rate vs Sri Lanka in India is better than the career averages and strike rate of some of the Lankan bowlers and that stands out as a huge factor. Harbhajan has the worst average among them all and that is just above 30. No Lankan bowler has an average of below 40 and that tells you a story in itself. When your best cannot even match up with the worst in the opposite camp then losing becomes a tradition and giving up becomes a habit.

Career Statistics

That time has come, again!

Now then! Sri Lanka have arrived. New team, new hopes, unfulfilled dreams and a mountain to climb. They will have high hopes from their premier spinner, Rangana Herath, whose “dream” is to win a Test match in India. Given the form India has been in recently and how they have played at home, it will take a humongous effort to beat them in their own backyard and it will take something extra for Herath to realize his dream. Will the wounded Lions beat the Tigers? Only time will tell.

Written by Deepak Verma.