MUMBAI: The 2026 Test series between India and Sri Lanka comes at an important time for both countries, as both are in the middle of a transition.
Not long ago, the two teams enjoyed a healthy rivalry, matching each other player for player. Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas led the Sri Lankan charge against an Indian side featuring Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, dishing out tough, memorable contests.
For Sri Lanka the transition has lasted longer than expected. Since Jayawardene and Sangakkara retired, Sri Lanka hasn’t had batters worthy of being the pillars around which the lineup can revolve, nor have they found world-class bowlers.
The end of the Mahela-Sanga era coincided with the rise of the Kohli-Pujara-Rahane era for India, and India took advantage to completely dominate the bilateral competitions starting from the mid-2010s. The fighting draw in the Colombo Test on Thursday, ended Sri Lanka’s run of six straight defeats to India on home soil.
India’s total domination was expected to continue in the just-concluded two-Test series but the home team’s new crop of young middle-order batters showed impressive skills and temperament to put up a good fight and produce a memorable series.
More than the result of the just-concluded series, both camps have reason to be happy with a view of long-term gains.
It has raised hopes that the next time the two sides meet, they will be more evenly matched, leading to a revival of their rivalry.
India’s middle order was desperate for more quality options before settling on the right long-term players. In the 2025 whitewash at home against South Africa, the batting was poorly exposed but after the impressive performances of Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel, the batting line-up certainly looks better balanced.
The tall left-hand batter got hundreds in both Tests for a total of 328 runs, staking a claim for a long term role at No. 3, and Jurel scored a fifty and a hundred to underline his potential as a specialist batter. A batting line-up of KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiwal, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Paddikal and Jurel, looks balanced and strong.
In bowling, left-arm spinner Manav Suthar excelled for the second straight series, finishing as the leading wicket-taker with 16 wickets, showing why he is being considered a good bet to fill in Ravindra Jadeja’s shoes in the time to come.
Lanka’s gains
For Sri Lanka, young Pasindu Sooriyabandara and Sonal Dinusha both staked a claim for long-term Test prospects.
Getting a chance in the absence of injured first-choice senior batters, the two provided enough evidence to develop into fine specialist Test batters. The 25-year-old Dinusha had a series to savour with scores of 100 and 84 in the first Test at Galle, 103 and 133 not out at Colombo to finish with 420 runs at an average of 140.
At the Sinhalaese Sports Club, playing only his second Test, the 26-year-old Sooriyabandara batted like a seasoned pro at No 3 in both innings, for scores of 80 and 92.
Add to it the fact that 27-year-old Kamindu Mendis is on the way to establishing his credentials as a solid middle-order player, averaging 53.65 plus in 18 Tests, there are good options in Sri Lanka’s middle-order. Mendis didn’t get runs at Galle but ended his recent run of low scores with innings of 32 and 55 at SSC.
In tough times, this young crop of batters has emerged as a breath of fresh air for Sri Lankan cricket.
Coach Gary Kirsten is most excited by Sri Lanka’s breakout star of the series, Dinusha: “I think it’s never easy batting at six in a team because often you come in under pressure. What I was encouraged by was when I watched him in the West Indies, I saw that he really thrives in tough situations. I love the way he plays Test cricket. He thinks about it. He plays to his strengths and he is a smart cricketer. He understands what the bowlers are trying to do to him and then he uses his skill sets to negate that.”
Dinusha and Sooriyabandara have offered new hope but the key will be how Sri Lanka cricket handles them. Before them, the likes of Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera were earmarked for greater things but were unable to fill the big shoes of Jayawardene and Sangakkara.
This could be the beginning of something nice for Sri Lankan Test cricket but the young players will need to sustain their performance over a significant period.
Dinusha and Sooriyabandara have it in them to develop into Test specialists, but unlike Mahela and Sangakkara who had the time to first fully learn the longer format and then move into the T20 format, none of the current players want to be just Test specialists.
The challenge for Dinusha & Co is to immediately find the balance between T20 cricket and Test cricket. To have cricket as a viable career option, all modern-era players feel the need to play in various professional T20 leagues. There is reason for excitement over the fresh batting talent emerging in Sri Lanka but it is still early days.
