Sri Lanka bank on home advantage

India and Sri Lanka have played each other with monotonous regularity over the last few years especially in the one day format. In Tests, however, the contests have been pretty interesting. India will be seeking their first series win in Sri Lanka since 1993, while Sri Lanka will look to reassert their dominance. On their two previous visits in 2001 and 2008, India won the second Test of the series but were convincingly beaten in the first and third. Contests between these two teams often favour the home team as is seen in the tables below. India have clearly been the dominant team in matches played at home, while they have quite clearly finished second-best in away games.

The last two series played between the teams were lit up by two double centuries by Virender Sehwag. His effort at Galle was remarkable considering the little support he received. The rest of the Indian batting was a failure, falling to Ajantha Mendis. The table below summarises the top batsmen against Sri Lanka in the 2000s. Rahul Dravid had an excellent series in 2001, but was well below par in the last series in 2008. The form of the openers, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, will be key for India, while the middle-order will want to make amends after a forgettable outing in 2008.

Sri Lankan batsmen have turned in excellent performances against India in the 2000s, mostly in the home games. Mahela Jayawardene has scored over 1000 runs in the 2000s with four centuries. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Thilan Samaraweera were prolific in the 2008 series and their form will be vital to Sri Lanka's fortunes.

India go into the Test series with a significantly weakened bowling attack after the departure of Zaheer Khan, who has been the second-highest wicket taker against Sri Lanka in the 2000s after Harbhajan Singh. Apart from Harbhajan, who boasts a good record both home and away against Sri Lanka, the inexperienced bowlers will have their task cut out against a formidable Sri Lankan batting line-up. The performance of Indian bowlers against Sri Lanka in Tests this decade is summarised below.

Muttiah Muralitharan's impending retirement has been the talking point all around, and with good reason. He has undoubtedly been the best bowler from either side and has been a terrific matchwinner in home games. If he does go on to achieve the landmark of 800 wickets in his final Test, it could well be a winning performance. Ajantha Mendis was the star in 2008, picking up 26 wickets, and could be picked in the team after Muralitharan's retirement. Rangana Herath and the inexperienced Chanaka Welegedara could have their hands full against the powerful Indian batting.

Much of the reason for Sri Lanka's success, especially in home games, has been the performance of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Their partnerships this decade, which includes the record 624-run stand against South Africa, have been extremely productive. Against India, however, the record reads quite differently. An average of just 17 in home games and 19 in away games is well below their overall record and is something they would look to better in the forthcoming series.

On the other hand, Gambhir and Sehwag have been exceptional in all conditions over the last few years and boast a great record in Sri Lanka. The opening pair, in just 50 Tests, is ranked among the most successful opening pairs of all time. They topped the batting averages when India last toured Sri Lanka, and much of India's chances will depend on the starts they produce.

The table below summarises the overall batting and bowling performances of India and Sri Lanka in head-to-head contests in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka have bossed the contests, averaging much higher and also scoring 12 centuries to India's one. On the bowling front too, Sri Lanka's average is far better than India's, and the visitors' inexperienced bowling line-up will have its task cut out.

Galle has been a pretty good venue for the home team, with seven wins and three defeats since 2000. There were no matches there for three years following the tsunami in 2004, but as the table below shows, Sri Lanka's record in the last three years there has been almost as dominant as in the period between 2000 and 2004.