When India last toured the Island nation in Sept 1985
under Kapil Dev's captaincy, they had a lot to prove,
and a reputation to maintain. World Champs in 1983,
India had a dismal run till they won the B&H in
Melbourne in March 1985. They followed that up with the
Sharjah cup in April.
The SL side was led by Mendis, and it was a veteran
team looking for it's first test win. After India
struggled in the first test, the second test saw the
Lankans drive home a decisive victory, in spite of
Kapil's brilliant 78 in the 2nd inns. The SL umpires
gave some doubtful decisions, which accounted for in-
form Vengsarkar, looking-for-form Azhar and middle
order bat Gavaskar. India was in the driver's seat in
the 3rd test, but brilliant centuries by Mendis and
vice capt. Dias, combined with some woeful time wasting
by De Mel saved the day for the hosts, who won their
first test series. Rumesh Ratnayake took 21 wickets,
followed by Ahangama with 18 ands De Mel with 12.
Aravinda and Dias stood out.
For India, Azhar was a failure.. after his brilliant
run in his debut season, he could score only 114 runs
in 3 tests. Amarnath scored a ton in the 3rd test,
while Vengsarkar had some good scores.
The teams drew the ODIs 1-1, after the umpires called
off play in the 3rd ODI due to bad light, when the
hosts were 32-4 and in trouble. Let's see what happens
this year!
posted by sbasu@vax.clarku.edu r.s.c.
Contributed by murari (venka@*me.utexas.edu)
