Though India and Sri Lanka played their first Test match only in 1982,cricket relations between the two nations stretch back to fifty yearsbefore that
Partab Ramchand12-Jul-2001Though India and Sri Lanka played their first Test match only in 1982,cricket relations between the two nations stretch back to fifty yearsbefore that. That was when Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was known then)visited India to play two unofficial Tests in Lahore and New Delhi.In succeeding years, the ties were maintained with frequent visits byboth countries. The teams also met in the 1979 World Cup where SriLanka scored a notable upset victory over India in the group match. Inmore ways than one then, India had reason to back Sri Lanka for fullTest status, which the island nation achieved in 1981, playing herfirst Test against England at Colombo the following year.Sri Lanka acquitted itself creditably in their drawn first Testagainst India at Chepauk in 1982-83. Over the next three years,however while Australia and New Zealand followed England to play Testmatches in Sri Lanka, India did not. It was felt then that Indiashould make a trip to the island nation to encourage the game thereand so a visit was hastily put together to be made in August -September 1985.Indeed, for some time even after there had been talk of the tourtaking place, it was not clear whether the Indians would make thetrip. The unsettled situation in Sri Lanka made many believe that thetour would be cancelled. Finally the visitors landed in Colombo on theeve of their opening first class game.All this was clearly a mistake from India’s viewpoint. A tour so earlyin the season meant that the Indians could not prepare themselvesadequately. Many in the team had not played for months and therewasn’t even a camp ahead of the tour for the squad since everythingwas arranged in a bit of a hurry. And then of course there was afeeling of complacency amongst the visitors who reckoned that SriLanka, still without a Test victory after 12 matches, would be a cakewalk. Another factor against India was Sunil Gavaskar’s decision tobat lower down in the order. This naturally upset the balance of thebatting for the new opening pair of K Srikkanth and Lalchand Rajputwere far from successful.The net result of all this uncertainty and lack of planning was thatIndia, against all expectations, went down to a shock defeat. Theylost the second Test of the three Test series and that was enough forSri Lanka to wrap up the series as well. No praise can be too high forthe Lankans who had trained assiduously for months and were fiercelydetermined to register their maiden triumph in Test cricket. Thismotivation was as much a factor in the Sri Lankans’ victory as thecomplacency displayed by the Indians.The Indians came to Sri Lanka riding a wave. They had notched up twonotable one-day triumphs in Australia and Sharjah earlier in the year.In the Test arena, they did not have an enviable record since 1982 butthen over the same period, novices Sri Lanka too had lost eight of the12 Tests it had played.Two three day games and a one day international was hardly the kind ofpreparation to find form before the three Tests which were played onthe trot. Indeed, the Indians came close to losing the first Test atthe SSC in Colombo. The visitors were all out for 218 to which SriLanka replied with 347. It took a gallant unbeaten 98 in six and threequarter hours by Dilip Vengsarkar to stretch the Indian second inningsscore to 251. Besides Vengsarkar’s efforts, rain which cut short asession’s play on the final day also saw Sri Lankan victory hopesbeing dented. Ultimately, the home team were set to get 123 runs ineleven overs. Changing their batting order, Sri Lanka showed awillingness to chase the difficult target but were 61 for four aftereight overs when bad light brought about an early finish.The warning signals had by now been posted loud and clear. But theIndians did not heed them and some more loose batting and bowling sawSri Lanka register their historic triumph at the Saravanamuthu stadiumin Colombo a week later. Wicketkeeper Amal Silva, with a stroke filled111, gave the necessary impetus at the top of the order and stylistRoy Dias followed with 95. A Sri Lankan total of 385 was always goingto test the Indians, who under pressure were all out for 244. Eventhis represented a recovery for they lost their first three batsmenwith just three runs on the board. Sri Lanka could now call the shotsand, declaring their second innings at 206 for three, set India avictory target of 348 in 333 minutes and 20 mandatory overs. At 98 forseven, the Indians were hurtling towards a big defeat before a gallant78 by the captain Kapil Dev took the final total to 198, reducing thevictory margin to 149 runs. Silva followed his century with ninevictims – an unprecedented feat for a wicketkeeper in a Test matchwhile Rumesh Ratnayake had a match haul of nine wickets. Scenes ofjubilation followed culminating in nationwide celebrations and apublic holiday the following day.The Indians could at best hope to salvage some pride by winning thefinal Test at Kandy and squaring the series. They did have anexcellent chance but squandered it. After scoring 249, enough for themto take a first innings lead of 51, the visitors, aided by an unbeaten116 by Mohinder Amarnath – the only hundred for the Indians ascompared to five for the Sri Lankans – declared their second inningsat 325 for five. A victory target of 377 in 420 minutes and 20mandatory overs was never really on and indeed the Sri Lankans faceddefeat when they lost three wickets for 34 on the fourth evening.However a 216-run partnership in 285 minutes between Sri Lanka’s twomost accomplished batsmen, captain Duleep Mendis and his deputy RoyDias steered the home team to safety. Both got hundreds and SriLanka’s closing score of 307 for seven was enough to ensure a seriestriumph.As if this was not enough, India’s image as world champions in one daycricket was dented with the three match series ending one all. Indiawon the first, lost the second and the third ended in no result. Onthe whole, it was a traumatic trip, marred also by unconvincingumpiring, about which the Indians stated their misgivings inunambiguous terms.
