India vs Sri Lanka Tests: 5 highest run-scorers

Familiar foes, India and Sri Lanka lock horns in the Island Nation for a three match Test series followed by a limited-overs leg. History between the two countries race back to the times of Hindu mythology and despite being close neighbours, the duo have been involved in some of the fieriest battles in the past century.

However, since then though, Lanka have fallen off the perch a wee bit and despite their victory over India in the Champions Trophy last month, India go in as clear favourites. Tests between the two haven't generated as much interest but there have been some prolific batsmen and some record breaking innings.

Here we take a glance at the five highest run scorers in India-Sri Lanka Tests. In the Jayasuriya-Tendulkar era, the contests reached a peak as both were sub-continental giants and clearly competitive when taking on each other.

#5 Aravinda de Silva

Aravinda de Silva was a special, special cricketer for Sri Lanka

The flamboyant former middle-order batsman from Sri Lanka was a prolific cricketer and a treat to the eyes with his free-flowing style of batting. A wonderful stroke-maker, De Silva was adept against pace and spin and had a special ability to put the opposition under severe pressure with his positive cricket. He had a rather subdued start against India in Tests but hit his straps later on in his career.

De Silva has 1252 runs in 19 Tests against India at an average of 41.73. Although he played his first Test against India in 1985, the first hundred did not come until 1993 when he smashed a 148 in Colombo. His best against India, however, came in 1997 when he made three hundreds in a home series including two in a Test at Colombo. He continued his brilliant run in the return series as he compiled an unbeaten 110 at Mohali the same year.

#4 Kumar Sangakkara

Few Sri Lankan batsmen have shown the class and composure of Kumar Sangakkara

The recently retired Kumar Sangakkara was one of Sri Lanka's greatest batsmen ever. A stylish batsman with a wide array of strokes up his repertoire, Sangakkara could make bowling attacks toil for days.

He had a penchant for occupying the crease for long and making big hundreds, a trait that made him an indispensable part of Sri Lanka's plans for over a decade. Sangakkara started his Test career in 2000 and in his first match against India the following year, he composed a wonderful hundred at Galle.

He enjoyed playing against India as is revealed from his numbers against the neighbours in Tests. The wicket-keeper batsman has 1352 runs in 17 Tests at 52.00 with five hundreds and two fifties. The conversion rate against India in Tests convey Sangakkara's tendency to get stuck into the opposition when on fire. In 2010, he made 219 against India at Colombo as Sri Lanka made 642.

#3 Rahul Dravid

Dravid was as good as a batting textbook with his classy shots

The Karnataka batsman was a perfectionist and thrived for a long time at no.3 in India's Test line-up. Hailed as a technical batsman, Dravid was a role model for several aspiring Test cricketers during his time in the game. One among India's Fab four in the 2000s, Dravid enjoyed big success against most opposition and Sri Lanka was no different.

He made 1508 runs in 20 Tests against the Island Nation with three hundreds and nine half-centuries. An average of 48.64 against Sri Lanka does not do justice to Dravid's exploits against the neighbours. He made hundreds in consecutive Tests against Sri Lanka in 2009 with 177 at Ahmedabad followed by 144 at Kanpur.

#2 Mahela Jayawardene

Jayawardene is Sri Lanka's highest run-scorer against India in Tests

The former Sri Lankan skipper was a prolific player and a champion batsman. Despite starting his career in the shadows of De Silva and Jayasuriya, Jayawardene forged a name for himself with some scintillating knocks throughout his Test career. He took a special liking to India and some of his best knocks have come against the neighbours. Most remembered among them could be a hundred in the 2011 World Cup final in a losing cause.

In Tests, Jayawardene is Sri Lanka's highest run-scorer against India with 1822 runs in 18 Tests at a mind-boggling average of 67.48. Six of his thirty-four Test hundreds have come against India with a highest of 275 in 2009 at Ahmedabad. That double-hundred was Jayawardene's second against India with his first being a 242 at Colombo in 1999.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar last hundred against Lanka was a double-hundred in 2010 at Colombo

The Master Blaster rocked Indian cricket for more than two decades and his presence at four in the Test line-up was a huge boost for India. A wonderfully gifted cricketer, Tendulkar holds records against most teams and has figured in 25 of the 38 Tests between India and Sri Lanka. He is easily the highest run-scorer in Tests between the two sides with 1995 runs at an average of 60.45.

The Mumbaikar hit a hundred in just his second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo in the year 1993. Another hundred followed in the return series the next year at Lucknow.

In 1997, he made back to back hundreds in Colombo and yet another in Mumbai later that year. He endured a dry period of four years against Sri Lanka between 2005 and 2009 before sliding back to groove with an unbeaten hundred in Ahmedabad. The following year he made a 203, his highest score against Lanka.