Will India end 22-year wait in Sri Lanka? A complete statistical preview

By Rajneesh Gupta and Vinayakk Mohanarangan

Virat Kohli’s first full series as India’s Test captain is set to begin in Galle on Wednesday when India take on Sri Lanka in a three match Test series.

The sub-continental teams are both going through a period of transition with Angelo Mathews leading a fairly inexperienced Lankan side in Kumar Sangakkara’s farewell series.

Here’s a detailed statistical preview of the series, which is the first time since 2010 that these two sides have faced each other in the longest format of the game.

Head to head:

India have a historic edge when it comes to facing Sri Lanka in Tests, having won 14 out of the 35 matches played between the sides, starting in 1982.

In Sri Lanka however, India are yet to register a series win after Mohammad Azharuddin’s team won a three-match series in 1993 against Arjuna Ranatunga’s side, 2-1. Virat Kohli and Co are looking to break a 22-year jinx in the island nation.

Recent form of India and Sri Lanka

In a calendar year dominated by the shorter-format so far, India have just played two Tests - the New Year Test in Sydney and the one-off rain-hit encounter in Bangladesh, both of which have been draws. Sri Lanka’s four Tests this year have seen them win just one and lose three - two of them in the recently concluded series defeat against Pakistan.

The teams’ form over their last 10 Tests makes for some grim reading too as both sides have lost five matches each - with India’s losses coming overseas in England and Australia while Sri Lanka’s patchy home form has seen them lose two of their last three series - against Pakistan and South Africa.

India, in fact, come into this tour on the back of five win-less series.

The 2010 series: Last time the two sides met in Tests

The last series between these two sides in Sri Lanka was in 2010, which was drawn (1-1). MS Dhoni was India’s captain, while Kumar Sangakkara led the Sri Lankan side.

Only Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Murali Vijay and Ishant Sharma from the current squad were part of the Indian contingent then. VVS Laxman played a starring role in India’s series-levelling win, making an unbeaten 103 in chase of 258 in Colombo.

India’s team composition:

Openers: Murali Vijay (32), Shikhar Dhawan (14) Middle-order batsmen: Virat Kohli (34), Cheteshwar Pujara (27), Ajinkya Rahane (15), Rohit Sharma (11), Lokesh Rahul (2) Wicket-keepers: Wriddhiman Saha (5) Spinners: Harbhajan Singh (102),Ravi Ashwin (25), Amit Mishra (13) Pacers: Ishant Sharma (62), Umesh Yadav (13), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (12), Varun Aaron (6)

Sri Lanka’s team composition:

Openers: Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Perera Middle-order batsmen: Kumar Sangakkara, Upul Tharanga, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jehan Mubarak Wicket-keepers: Dinesh Chandimal All-rounders: Angelo Mathews Spinners: Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Tharindu Kaushal Pacers: Nuwan Pradeep, Dhammika Prasad, Vishwa Fernando, Dushmantha Chameera

Average age of two teams (as on 12th August- start of Test series)

India: 27.79 yrs (Youngest – Lokesh Rahul @ 23 yrs 116 days, Oldest - Harbhajan Singh @ 35 yrs 140 days) Sri Lanka: 29.01 yrs (Youngest – Tharindu Kaushal @ 22 yrs 160 days, Oldest – Kumar Sangakkara @ 37 yrs 289 days)

There are two players in the current Sri Lankan squad, who haven’t played Test cricket – Kusal Perera and Vishwa Fernando.

Combined Experience:

In perhaps the most interesting comparison between the two teams, a look at the combined experience paints a clear picture about the lack of Test match experience in either side.

The Indian squad has a combined experience of 373 Tests (avg 24.9 Tests per member) and has aggregated 14733 runs at an average of 30.07 with 35 hundreds and 55 fifties. The members of the squad have a combined tally of 859 wickets with Harbhajan Singh alone accounting for 416 wickets at 32.32.

The Sri Lankan squad, in comparison, has a combined experience of 389 Tests (avg 24.3 Tests per member) and has aggregated 23217 runs at an average of 39.69 with 52 hundreds and 104 fifties. Kumar Sangakkara alone has scored more than half the runs (12305) and 38 hundreds

The members of the Sri Lankan squad have a combined tally of 420 wickets (at 35.40). Rangana Herath alone has accounted for 263 wickets.

A look at the batting and bowling figures of the squads also make for some interesting reading. India’s third leading run-scorer in this squad is Harbhajan Singh behind Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay.

Sri Lanka, in comparison, have the might of Kumar Sangakkara propping up their batting stats - but given his retirement after second Test, Angelo Matthews will become their leading batsman with just over 3400 runs. In terms of their performance against India, Rangana Herath has poor numbers against India in the four Tests he has played, something that the Indian batsmen could look to exploit.

So, as the numbers suggest, there is very little to choose between the sides. India, currently placed fifth in the ICC Test rankings, can potentially go third if they manage a historic whitewash. Sri Lanka, currently languishing at seventh spot on the table, can go high as fifth.

This should be a fascinating series by all counts, weather permitting.

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BONUS STATISTICS: If you have come this far, may be you will be interested in a few more tables. If facts like who has the most number of wickets for India against Sri Lanka all-time, who leads the run-scoring charts between the sides and what’s the lowest team total posted between the two sides (hint: It’s more than what Australia managed at Trent Bridge last week), then read on.