Top 5 wicket-takers in Tests between India and Sri Lanka
We are only a few days away from the commencement of India’s month-and-a-half long Tour of Sri Lanka which comprises of three Tests, five ODIs, and a T20I. The two-day warm-up match between the Indian team and the Sri Lanka Board President’s XI at Colombo began yesterday with Sri Lanka collapsing from 139/1 to 187 all out courtesy of Kuldeep Yadav’s 4/14 and Ravindra Jadeja’s 3/31.
In reply, India made 312/9 thanks to fifties from KL Rahul (who came back from a four-month long break to recover from his shoulder injury) and Virat Kohli in addition to contributions from Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, and Wriddhiman Saha.
India first played a Test against Sri Lanka in 1982 and have gone on to play each other in a total of 38 Tests- 17 of them in India, and the remaining 21 in Sri Lanka. So far, India have won 16 matches (10 in India and 6 in Sri Lanka) while Sri Lanka have won 7 (all at home). The remaining 15 matches have ended in draws.
Both nations have produced some brilliant bowlers and many of them have produced some scintillating spells in all the Tests India and Sri Lanka have locked horns in. Here are the Top 5 wicket-takers in India-Sri Lanka Test matches.
#5 Ajantha Mendis- 34 wickets
A number of Ajantha Mendis’ best Test performances have come against India. Out of his 70 Test wickets, the Mystery Spinner has taken nearly half of them against India including 4 wickets in both innings of his debut Test against India at Colombo.
His figures of 8/132 are the best by any Sri Lankan bowler on his Test debut. Mendis’ lone Man of the Series in Test cricket also came against India.
Extra cover: 5 memorable India and Sri Lanka Encounters in Tests
In two years, Mendis had taken 34 wickets in 6 Tests against India at an average of 29 with a spell of 6/117 at Galle (in a losing cause) during his debut Test series being his best bowling figures in Test match cricket in addition to being his best bowling figures in Indo-Lankan Tests (he also attained his best Test match bowling figures of 10/209 in this match).
Mendis went on to take another five-wicket haul against India in that very series. He last played a Test against India in 2010 at Colombo which India went on to win.