5 Sri Lankan Players who made their Test debut against India

South Africa v Sri Lanka: Quarter Final - 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup
Mahela Jayawardene is considered among the best batsmen to have played the game

India and Sri Lanka have a rich cricket history with their rivalry dating back to 1979. Both the countries have blessed the cricket world with some legendary players who have enriched the history of the game. The rivalry between the two Asian cricketing giants has always given birth to riveting contests.

The reason behind such great contests was the presence of some of the greats of the game on both sides.

While India had the likes of Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly, Sri Lanka had Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan among others.

However, only a few of them have gone on to make their international debuts in this kind of exciting contest. Some shone like a bright star afterwards in their career and some disappeared into obscurity. Let us now have a look at five of those Sri Lankan Cricketers who made their Test debut against India:

#1) Mahela Jayawardene

Legendary former Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene, made his international debut against India.

It was that famous Test match at Colombo, in August 1997, which witnessed prolific batting displays from both Indian and Sri Lankan batsmen.

India had posted a mammoth first innings total of 537/8 riding on centuries from Sachin Tendulkar (143), Mohammad Azharuddin (126) and Navjot Singh Sidhu (111).

Sri Lanka, in reply, kept batting till the end of the match posting a Himalayan total of 952/6d courtesy a triple ton from Sanath Jayasuriya (340), a double ton from Roshan Mahanama (225) and a century from Aravinda de Silva (126) .

Jayawardene also shone with the bat in that match. Making his way to a promising 66 (105) batting at No.6, he gave a glimpse of what was about to come in the future. He retired with 25,957 runs to his name in 652 international matches - which include a total of 54 centuries and 136 half-centuries.

He is now a living legend and among one of the greatest cricketers of all-time.

#2) Upul Tharanga

3rd Test: England v Sri Lanka Day One
3rd Test: England v Sri Lanka Day One

Left-handed opening batsman, Upul Tharanga made his international debut in Test match against India at Ahmedabad in December, 2005.

He didn’t have a particularly good first outing as he was dismissed caught behind by Irfan Pathan for only a score of 2 (14).

However, he did show some grit and determination in the second innings as he played a defiant knock of 47 (117). Unfortunately, he was dismissed by Anil Kumble just three runs short of a well-deserved fifty.

Despite that good knock, Sri Lanka went on to lose the match by a mammoth 259 runs.

Tharanga just played 28 more Test matches after that as he was in and out of the Test team due to his inconsistency.

In 29 Test matches, Tharanga has 1666 runs to his name at an average of 34.0 - not a good number for a batsman batting in the top order.

However, he continued to be an integral part of the ODI team ever since having played 207 matches and scored 6212 runs. He has 17 centuries and 41 half-centuries to his name so far in all formats combined.

#3) Thilan Samaraweera

England v Sri Lanka: 3rd npower Test - Day Five
Samaraweera was not as regular a fixture as he should have been

Thilan Samaraweera was one of those classical Sri Lankan batsmen who played much lesser number of matches than they should have. He made his international debut against India in an ODI of the Coca-Cola Cup in November 1998.

Although he didn't get a chance to show his batting skills in that match, he did bowl his full quota of 10 overs with decent returns of 1/41.

However, Sri Lanka went on to lose the match narrowly by 3 wickets in a last over finish.

Samaraweera also made his Test debut against India in 2001. The venue was Colombo and Sri Lanka romped on to a huge victory thumping India by an innings and 77 runs.

The player joined the elite list of those rare players to have scored a century on Test debut. He remained unbeaten on 103 as Sri Lanka had posted 610/6. He retired with 6324 runs in 134 international matches, including 16 hundreds and 30 fifties.

#4) Ajantha Mendis

Sri Lanka v West Indies - ICC World Twenty20 2012 Final
Sri Lanka v West Indies - ICC World Twenty20 2012 Final

Ajantha Mendis, the mystery spinner, made his Test debut against India at Colombo on 23rd July, 2008. It was the first Test of the series, and it turned out to be a memorable match for the hosts as they thrashed India by an innings and 239 runs.

A part of the credit goes to then-debutant Ajantha Mendis, who ran through the Indian batting order with 4-wicket hauls in both the innings.

Sri Lanka scored 600/6d in the first innings. In reply India collapsed for just 223 courtesy Mendis's and Muralitharan's spells of 4/72 and 5/84 respectively.

The Lankans enforced the follow on, and bowled India out for another paltry total of 138. This time too, Mendis registered figures of 4/60 ending the match with overall figures of 8/132.

After that, Mendis went on to play 145 international matches for Sri Lanka, picking up 288 wickets. However, his form gradually faded away and was not considered for selection very regularly from then on.

#5) Suraj Randiv

England v Sri Lanka - 2nd Natwest One Day International Series
England v Sri Lanka - 2nd Natwest One Day International Series

Suraj Randiv made his Test debut against India at the SSC in Colombo on 26th July, 2010.

It was the second Test of the series and it resulted in a draw as both the teams produced exceptional batting performances.

Batting first, Sri Lanka made their way to 642/4. In reply, India posted a mammoth total of 707 all out. Randiv registered figures of 73-16-222-2 in that match.

His career never really took off, however, as he continued to be a middling bowler. Randiv played 12 Tests, 31 ODIs and 7 T20Is, picking up 86 international wickets in total. He last represented Sri Lanka in an ODI against England in June, 2016.

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Edited by Anuradha Santhanam