New Delhi. The ODI series between India and Sri Lanka is starting from Friday, 2nd August. The Indian team has come on the field with full strength. King Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma are there. New coach Gautam Gambhir is also present with a new strategy. There is no doubt that India is the contender to win the series. But it may not be as easy as it looks on paper. At least the statistics must be boosting Sri Lanka’s morale. Let us see how many matches India has played in Sri Lanka and how it has performed in them.
India has played 95 ODI matches in Sri Lanka so far. Team India has won 49 of these and lost 36. The remaining 10 matches were cancelled due to rain. India’s win-loss ratio in Sri Lanka is 1.361. These figures are of all the ODI matches played by India in Sri Lanka. In these, the opposing teams include other teams besides Sri Lanka.
Now let’s talk about those ODI matches played in Sri Lanka in which India faced the host team. 66 such ODI matches have been played between the two teams in Sri Lanka. India has won 32 of these matches and lost 28. The remaining 6 matches were cancelled. India’s win-loss ratio against Sri Lanka on its soil is 1.142.
It took 23 years to win the series
If we talk about bilateral series played in Sri Lanka, India has an upper hand in them. India had to wait for about 23 years to win its first bilateral ODI series in Sri Lanka, but once the series started in 2008, it has continued till date. India played its first bilateral series in Sri Lanka in 1985, which was a draw. After this, till 2006, India played 3 more such series, in which it lost two and one was a draw. India finally succeeded in defeating Sri Lanka in a series in its home in 2008. Since then, it has won 5 series in a row.
India in search of 100th victory
If we talk about the total ODI matches played between India and Sri Lanka, the figures are almost one-sided. So far 168 matches have been played between the two teams. India has won 99 of these matches. Sri Lanka has won only 57 matches. That is, when it comes to total ODI matches, the Indian team wins almost twice as many matches as Sri Lanka. On the other hand, if the match is in Sri Lanka, then the host team almost comes at par. There is a saying that the lions of home… This is quite applicable to Sri Lanka. In its situation, it has surprised and defeated big teams many times. They are not called ‘cheetahs’ in the cricket world for nothing.
India won 5 series in 16 years
One thing is clear that even though Sri Lanka’s team may give tough competition to India in terms of statistics, its chances on the field are low. Reason- The statistics are from 1985 till now. But cricket has changed a lot in these 39 years. In this journey which started in 1985, for the first 23 years Indian team could not beat Sri Lanka in ODI series in its home. But in the last 16 years India has won five series there. Team India has the momentum and it is unlikely to face any problem in winning the series.
Tags: India Vs Sri lanka, Indian Cricket Team, Sri lanka, Team india
FIRST PUBLISHED : August 2, 2024, 07:42 IST