Review of India-Sri Lanka ODIs-Jan 2023

India won the series 3-0, being the latest in a series of numerous clean sweeps against Sri Lanka. The highlight was a 317-run victory in the 3rd match, which is the biggest victory margin in any ODI. More on this topic here: https://abn397.wordpress.com/2023/01/15/record-victories-in-odis/

A total of 165 ODIs have been played between these teams.

India has won 96, Sri Lanka 57, 1 tied and 11 no-results.

In India: 39-12-0-3

In Sri Lanka: 30-28-0-6

On neutral grounds: 27-17-1-2

Interestingly, the first ODI between these teams was during the 1979 World Cup in England. Sri Lanka won. India did not win any match in that tournament.

Looking at individual performances, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (750 or more):

Headed by Tendulkar and Jayasuriya. Kohli is in 5th place.

Kohli has the most centuries (10) followed by Tendulkar with 8. For 50+ scores, Tendulkar has 25 and Sangakkara 24.

Highest innings scores (125 or more):

Headed by 2 double centuries by RG Sharma. His 264 is the record individual score in ODIs. Kohli’s 166* is in 7th place.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings and 35.00):

Headed by Dhoni with Kohli just behind.

Highest strike rates (Minimum 500 balls faced, 75.00):

Note that Sehwag is well ahead of the next (Dhawan and Jayasuriya). Kohli is 5th here.

Now for Bowling:

Most wickets (Minimum 30):

Headed by Murali (74) and Vaas (70). No recent players here.

No one has taken more than one 5wi, or more than 3 4wis.

Best innings bowling (Includes all 5wis):

Headed by Murali’s 7-30. India’s best is 6-59 by A Nehra.

Best bowling averages (Minimum 1000 balls bowled and maximum 45.00):

Headed by the unheralded AB Agarkar and BAW Mendis. Kapil and Harbhajan have the best economy rates, and Agarkar and I. Sharma the best strike rates.

Now to Fielding:

Most dismissals (Minimum 20):

Led by Dhoni, with Sangakkara some distance behind. Dhoni also has the most stumpings (25). M Jayawardene has the most catches as a fielder (38).

Most dismissals in an innings (4 or more):

Headed by Dhoni with 5 dismissals. Kaif has the most catches as a fielder (4). This was in the 2003 World Cup and was the WC record until 2015.

Highest dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings and 0.450):

Dhoni again, with Sangakkara some distance behind.The best figures by a pure fielder are 0.454 by Mahanama and Raina.

All-round performances :

Overall (see table for criteria):

Mathews heads this list, with the next (Pathan) far behind.

Match performances:

These two performances are clearly the best.

Summary of India-Sri Lanka ODI matches

With this 2-1 victory, India continued its dominance of bilateral ODI series against Sri Lanka. The last such series in Sri Lanka in Aug 2017 was a 5-0 win by India (with similar results in Tests and T20Is).

Sri Lanka has never won an ODI bilateral series in India.

Overall summary of results:

Trivia note: the first ODI between these teams was won by Sri Lanka in the 1979 World Cup.

Batting:

1000 and more runs:

Also see that the most centuries are 8 each by Kohli and Tendulkar, and the most 50+ scores are 25 by Tendulkar and 24 by Sangakkara.

The highest total by those who played in this series is 1111 by Dhawan, although Kohli has the most by current players.

Highest innings (120 and more):

While the world record of 264 remains with RG Sharma, there is no other century in this series.

Batting averages (Min 20 innings and 25.00):

Kohli is second here followed by other current players such as Mathews and RG Sharma. But no one who played in this series is here.

Strike rates (Minimum 500 balls faced, 75.00):

S Dhawan is second on this list, and is the only one here who played in the current series. RG Sharma and Kohli follow him.

Bowling:

Most wickets (20 and above):

The only one with two five-fors is RR Singh. The only one with 4 four-fors is BAW Mendis. I. Sharma is among those with 3.

The only one on this list who played in the current series is B Kumar at the bottom.

Best innings bowling (including all 5wi and above):

No such instance from this series, although Bumrah and B Kumar are there from earlier series.

Bowling averages (Minimum 1000 balls bowled, all instances):

Among current and near-current players, there are Mathews, T Perera and R Jadeja.

The best averages are by Agarkar and BAW Mendis.

The best economy rates are by Kapil and Harbhajan.

The best strike rates are by Agarkar and I Sharma.

Fielding:

Most dismissals (15 and above):

Dhoni has the most catches and stumpings. The most catches by a non-keeper are by M Jayawardene.

Most dismissals in innings (4 and above):

Dhoni is the only one with 5 dismissals, while M Kaif is the only non-keeper with 4 catches. Saha is the only other keeper from recent times.

Best dismissal rate (minimum 20 innings, 0.400)

Dhoni again leads here, while Kohli has the best among current players.

All-round performance:

Overall (see criteria in table):

Somewhat unexpectedly, Mathews and IK Pathan turn out to be the best all-rounders here.

Match (30 runs and 3 wickets):

The best performances here are by Ganguly, RR Singh, Thushara and Prabhakar.