India vs Sri Lanka 2017: Venue Profiles, SSC Ground, Colombo

After defeating Sri Lanka by 304 runs in the first Test at Galle, India have already consolidated their position in the second Test at Colombo as Sri Lanka are currently 209/2 in their second innings, having been dismissed in their first innings for 183 in reply to India’s 622/9 that comprised centuries from Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane and fifties from Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin and KL Rahul.

The Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo is one of the most popular cricket grounds in Sri Lanka and even though it is the second smallest ground in the country in terms of capacity with 10,000, it has hosted more Tests than any other cricketing stadium in Sri Lanka, having hosted 43 Test matches which is the most number of matches hosted by any Asian ground.

Let’s take a look at the ground’s history and India’s performances and individual performances at the ground.

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#1 History

The Sinhalese Sports Club Ground was established in 1952

Way back in 1899, a scholastic cricket team comprising of players from three schools in Colombo namely Royal College, S. Thomas College, and Wesley College had taken on the Colts Cricket Club which is also based in Colombo. The school-based cricket team won the match by a run and subsequently, a decision to establish an all-Sinhalese Cricket Club was made.

Thus, the Sinhalese Sports Club was founded and it initially leased a land at Victoria Park, Colombo which was covered with cinnamon trees. In 1952, the club shifted to its present location at Maitland Place which had been used as an aerodrome by the Allies during the Second World War.

The pavilion of the stadium was built in 1956 thanks to the sponsorship of a nightclub owner named Donovan Andree. The scoreboard and sightscreens were built during the mid-1970s. The stands of the ground have been named after some of its sponsors that include Telecommunications Company Lanka Bell, HSBC, and Seylan Bank.

The SSC ground hosted its first cricket match in February 1982- an ODI between Sri Lanka and England which the latter won by 5 runs thanks to a brilliant all-round performance by Ian Botham who scored a 51-ball 60 and took two wickets with the ball.

The ground hosted its first Test in 1984 against New Zealand which was drawn thanks to Roy Dias’s century in the second innings that helped Sri Lanka to 289 after conceding a 24-run lead. The ground has hosted a total of seven matches in ICC tournaments, 6 of which were played during the 2002 Champions Trophy and the remaining games being played at the 1996 World Cup between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

India played their first match at this ground in August 1985 and the match was drawn. India scored 218 in their first innings with Asantha de Mel taking five wickets. In reply, Sri Lanka scored 347 thanks to centuries from Ranjan Madugalle and Arjuna Ranatunga. In their second innings, India scored 251 thanks to fifties from Lalchand Rajput (61) and Dilip Vengsarkar (98) with Rumesh Ratnayake picking up 6 wickets. Sri Lanka could only score 61/4 in their second innings as the match came to an end.

#2. Highest and lowest totals by India

707 is India's highest Test score at the SSC ground

Including the ongoing Test, India have played nine Tests at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground and their highest total at this ground is 707 which was scored in 2010 thanks to Sachin Tendulkar’s brilliant 203 with great assistance from Suresh Raina who scored 120 on his Test debut. Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, and Murali Vijay also made valuable contributions with scores of 99, 76, and 58. The match eventually ended in a draw. India’s total of 622/9 yesterday is their second highest total at this ground. This was the second time this year, the second time against Sri Lanka, and the 5th time in their Test history that six Indian cricketers registered 50+ scores in the same innings.

India’s third highest score on this ground is 518/7 which was scored in 1999 during the Asian Test championship. Their fourth and fifth highest scores on this ground are 375 and 366 respectively.

India’s lowest total at this ground is 138 which they scored during their 2008 Tour of Sri Lanka. Till date, this is the only time that India have scored less than 200 on this ground as most of their scores here have been above 250.

#3. Most runs and highest individual scores by an Indian batsman

Sachin Tendulkar has scored the most number of runs as well as the highest individual score by a non-Sri Lankan batsman on this ground

Sachin Tendulkar has scored the most number of runs at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground with 698 runs from 9 innings at an astronomical average of 99.71. Tendulkar’s 698 runs are also the most number of runs scored by a non-Sri Lankan batsman at the SSC ground.

Behind Tendulkar, we have Sourav Ganguly who has scored 384 runs from 8 innings at an average of 48. Mohammad Azharuddin, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Sadagoppan Ramesh follow Ganguly with 298, 278, and 274 runs respectively.

Sachin Tendulkar’s 203 in 2010 is the highest individual score by an Indian batsman on this ground and is also the second-highest individual score by a non-Sri Lankan batsman here behind Brian Lara’s 221 in 2001.

Behind Tendulkar’s 203, come Sourav Ganguly’s 147 in 1997, Cheteshwar Pujara’s 145 in 2015, and Sadagoppan Ramesh’s 143 in 1999.

#4. Most wickets and highest spells by an Indian bowler

Anil Kumble has taken more wickets than any other Indian bowler on this ground

Anil Kumble has taken the most number of wickets by an Indian bowler on this ground with 16 wickets in 6 innings at an average of 39.62 which is also the most number of wickets by a non-Sri Lankan bowler here. Behind Kumble, comes Ishant Sharma who has taken 11 wickets here at an average of 31.18.

Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin follow Sharma with 9 wickets each. The best spell in an innings by an Indian bowler at the SSC ground is 5/54 by Ishant Sharma which was bowled in 2015. The tall pacer’s spell is the fourth best for a non-Lankan bowler and the third best for a non-Lankan pacer. Besides Ishant Sharma’s spell, two other five-wicket hauls have been bowled by an Indian bowler namely Ravi Ashwin’s 5/69 today and Anil Kumble’s 5/87 in 1993.