The India National Cricket Team vs Sri Lanka National Cricket Team timeline starts at Old Trafford in 1979 and runs to an Asian Games semi-final in Nisshin on October 1, 2026. In between sit 253 men’s internationals across Tests, ODIs and T20Is.
Sri Lanka won the first meeting, a 1979 World Cup ODI. India have led the rivalry for most of the time since, but the 1996 semi-final, the 2007 World Cup and the 2014 T20 World Cup final all went Sri Lanka’s way.
The latest meeting went India’s way by 124 runs. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 45.
India vs Sri Lanka head-to-head record
India own the numbers. Sri Lanka own a few of the loudest nights.
| Format | Matches | India wins | Sri Lanka wins | Draws, ties, no results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 48 | 23 | 7 | 18 draws |
| ODIs | 171 | 99 | 59 | 2 ties, 11 no results |
| T20Is | 34 | 24 | 9 | 1 no result |
| Total | 253 | 146 | 75 | 18 draws, 2 ties, 12 no results |
The Test row includes both 2026 Tests. India won in Galle by 165 runs, and the Colombo Test was drawn.
T20I note: the total includes the October 1, 2026 Asian Games semi-final, which trackers list as an official men’s T20I. It also counts the super-over games in Pallekele (2024) and Dubai (2025) as India wins. A database with a different tournament scope or tie rule can show a number that’s off by one or two.
India National Cricket Team vs Sri Lanka National Cricket Team timeline: first match to 2026
1979-1989: the rivalry begins
Sri Lanka weren’t a Test nation when they beat India by 47 runs at the 1979 World Cup. Test status came in 1981, and the first India-Sri Lanka Test followed in 1982.
Then came 1985. Sri Lanka won the second Test in Colombo by 149 runs, their first Test win anywhere, and took the series 1-0. India’s first win in the rivalry came in 1986, at Nagpur.
1990-1999: World Cup rivalry takes shape
India won their first Test series in Sri Lanka in 1993, 1-0. Sri Lanka took the ODI series on the same tour, 2-1.
The 1992 World Cup meeting was washed out after two balls. Four years later, Sri Lanka won the group game in Delhi by 6 wickets, then took the Eden Gardens semi-final by default. India were 120/8 chasing 252 when crowd trouble stopped play, and the match was awarded to Sri Lanka, who went on to win the title.
In 1997, Sri Lanka declared at 952/6 in Colombo, still the highest total in Test history. Sanath Jayasuriya made 340 of it.
India answered at the 1999 World Cup in Taunton. Sourav Ganguly scored 183, Rahul Dravid 145, and India won by 157 runs.
2000-2009: bilateral series and World Cup meetings
The decade opened badly for India. At the 2000 Sharjah Champions Trophy final, Jayasuriya made 189 and India were bowled out for 54, their lowest ODI total.
Sri Lanka won the 2001 Test series 2-1 at home, with Muttiah Muralitharan taking 23 wickets. India won the 2003 World Cup meeting by 183 runs. Sri Lanka won the 2007 one by 69 runs, which ended India’s campaign.
Sri Lanka also won the Asia Cup finals of 2004 (by 25 runs) and 2008 (by 100 runs, with Ajantha Mendis taking 6/13). They took the 2008 Test series 2-1 as well, even though Virender Sehwag made 201 not out in India’s win at Galle. Sehwag followed with 293 in Mumbai in December 2009.
2010-2019: World Cup final, T20 World Cup final and modern rivalry
India won the 2011 World Cup final at the Wankhede by 6 wickets. Mahela Jayawardene’s 103 not out took Sri Lanka to 274/6. Gautam Gambhir (97) and MS Dhoni (91 not out) chased it down, in the first World Cup final between two Asian sides.
Sri Lanka won the 2014 T20 World Cup final in Mirpur by 6 wickets. Virat Kohli made 77 in India’s 130/4, and Kumar Sangakkara finished on 52 not out.
Rohit Sharma hit 264 against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens that November, an ODI world record at the time. India won the 2015 Test series 2-1 after losing the opener in Galle by 63 runs. In 2017 they swept all three Tests, winning in Galle by 304 runs, and took the ODIs 5-0. At the 2019 World Cup, India won by 7 wickets at Headingley.
2020-2026: recent India vs Sri Lanka matches
The 2020 T20I in Guwahati was washed out. In 2021, a young India side led by Shikhar Dhawan won the ODI series 2-1, and Sri Lanka took the T20Is 2-1.
India won both 2022 home series, 3-0 in T20Is and 2-0 in Tests, including an innings win in Mohali by 222 runs. Sri Lanka beat India by 6 wickets in the 2022 Asia Cup Super Four in Dubai, then won the title.
In January 2023, India won the Thiruvananthapuram ODI by 317 runs. Later that year they beat Sri Lanka by 41 runs in the Asia Cup Super Four, then by 10 wickets in the final after bowling them out for 50. In November, India won the World Cup game in Mumbai by 302 runs.
Sri Lanka took the 2024 ODI series 2-0, after the opener finished tied. India won that year’s T20Is 3-0, with the last one settled by a super over. In September 2025, a Pathum Nissanka hundred pushed India to another super over in the Asia Cup. India won it.
August 2026 brought a 1-0 Test series win for India. Then came the Asian Games semi-final on October 1.
Read Another Asian Rivalry : India Vs Pakistan Timeline
India vs Sri Lanka World Cup record
India and Sri Lanka have met 10 times at the men’s ODI World Cup. India lead 5-4, with one no result. If you see 4-4 somewhere, that tally stops before the 2023 game.
| Year | Stage | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Group | Sri Lanka | 47 runs |
| 1992 | Group | No result | Abandoned after 2 balls |
| 1996 | Group | Sri Lanka | 6 wickets |
| 1996 | Semi-final | Sri Lanka | Awarded after crowd trouble |
| 1999 | Group | India | 157 runs |
| 2003 | Super Six | India | 183 runs |
| 2007 | Group | Sri Lanka | 69 runs |
| 2011 | Final | India | 6 wickets |
| 2019 | Group | India | 7 wickets |
| 2023 | Group | India | 302 runs |
India vs Sri Lanka Asia Cup record
The Asia Cup has switched between ODI and T20I formats, so the record reads better in two parts.
In the ODI format, the first meeting came in 1984 and India won by 10 wickets. The most recent were in 2023: India won the Super Four game by 41 runs and the final by 10 wickets.
In the T20I format, they’ve met three times. India won by 9 wickets in 2016, Sri Lanka won by 6 wickets in 2022, and in 2025 the Super Four game finished tied at 202/5 before India won the super over.
| Detail | India | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|---|
| Finals won (8 played against each other) | 5 | 3 |
| T20I-format meetings won (3 played) | 2 | 1 |
India vs Sri Lanka Asia Cup finals
India also beat Sri Lanka in the 1988 and 1990-91 finals. The six since then:
| Year | Winner | Margin | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | India | 8 wickets | Sharjah |
| 1997 | Sri Lanka | 8 wickets | Colombo |
| 2004 | Sri Lanka | 25 runs | Colombo |
| 2008 | Sri Lanka | 100 runs | Karachi |
| 2010 | India | 81 runs | Dambulla |
| 2023 | India | 10 wickets | Colombo |
Mendis’s 6/13 bowled India out for 173 in 2008. In 2010, India made 268/6 and won by 81 runs. In 2023, Mohammed Siraj took 6/21, Sri Lanka were all out for 50, and India chased it down in 6.1 overs.
India vs Sri Lanka Test timeline
The India vs Sri Lanka Test timeline is the most one-sided of the three formats. India have won 23 of 48 Tests, Sri Lanka 7, and 18 were drawn.
India haven’t lost a Test series in Sri Lanka since 2008. Galle was a Sri Lankan fortress, with 3 wins to India’s 2 before this year, but India’s August win there made it 3-3.
| Year | Host | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka won 1-0 |
| 1993 | Sri Lanka | India won 1-0 |
| 2001 | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka won 2-1 |
| 2008 | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka won 2-1 |
| 2010 | Sri Lanka | Drawn 1-1 |
| 2015 | Sri Lanka | India won 2-1 |
| 2017 | Sri Lanka | India won 3-0 |
| 2022 | India | India won 2-0 |
| 2026 | Sri Lanka | India won 1-0 |
The batting records come from Colombo and Mumbai. Sri Lanka’s 952/6 in 1997 is the highest total in Test cricket, Jayasuriya’s 340 is the best individual score in the rivalry, and Sehwag’s 293 in 2009 is India’s best. Two of India’s heaviest wins are the innings-and-222-run win in Mohali in 2022 and the 304-run win in Galle in 2017.
India vs Sri Lanka ODI timeline
The India vs Sri Lanka ODI timeline covers 171 matches, more than any other pair of teams has played. India have won 99 (57.9%), Sri Lanka 59, with 2 ties and 11 no results.
Margins here get extreme. India’s 317-run win in Thiruvananthapuram in January 2023 is the biggest ODI win by runs in history, and the 302-run win at the 2023 World Cup is third on that list. Sri Lanka’s 245-run win at Sharjah in 2000 was the day India made 54.
Individual numbers swing just as hard. Rohit Sharma’s 264 at Eden Gardens came in this fixture. So did Sri Lanka’s 2-0 series win in 2024, with the first game tied.
India vs Sri Lanka T20 timeline
The India vs Sri Lanka T20 timeline began in 2009 and tilts hard toward India: 24 wins to 9, with one no result. The first T20I was in Nagpur played on December 2009 series in India finished 1-1.
Sri Lanka’s best days came at world events. They beat India at the 2010 T20 World Cup and in the 2014 final. India’s best days came in bilaterals, like Rohit Sharma’s 118 off 43 balls in Indore in 2017 (India 260/5), and the 3-0 sweeps of 2022 and 2024.
Sri Lanka’s last win in the format came at Pune in January 2023. Since then India have won every completed meeting, and two of them went to super overs.
The most recent was the Asian Games semi-final. Ishan Kishan’s 80 not out carried India to 169/7, and Sri Lanka collapsed to 45 all out in 9.5 overs, their lowest T20I total. India’s 124-run margin is the biggest in a men’s T20I semi-final or final.
India vs Sri Lanka T20 World Cup record
ODI World Cup results don’t carry over here. India and Sri Lanka have met twice at the T20 World Cup, and Sri Lanka won both.
| Edition | Stage | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Super 8 | Sri Lanka | 5 wickets |
| 2014 | Final | Sri Lanka | 6 wickets |
They didn’t meet at the 2026 edition, which India co-hosted and won.
Most memorable India vs Sri Lanka matches
- 1979 World Cup: Sri Lanka beat India by 47 runs before they had Test status.
- 1996 World Cup semi-final: crowd trouble at Eden Gardens ended it with India on 120/8.
- 1999 World Cup: Ganguly 183 and Dravid 145 at Taunton.
- 2007 World Cup: Sri Lanka by 69 runs, and India were out.
- 2011 World Cup final: India by 6 wickets at the Wankhede.
- 2014 T20 World Cup final: Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in Mirpur.
- 2023 Asia Cup final: Sri Lanka 50 all out, India 10 wickets.
- 2025 Asia Cup Super Four: both sides made 202/5, Nissanka scored 107, and India won the super over.
India vs Sri Lanka records: runs, wickets and biggest wins
Test numbers are the cleanest because the main names have retired.
| Record | Player | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Most runs | Sachin Tendulkar | 1,995 in 25 Tests, 9 hundreds |
| Most runs for Sri Lanka | Mahela Jayawardene | 1,822 |
| Third on the list | Kumar Sangakkara | 1,352 |
| Most wickets | Muttiah Muralitharan | 105 |
| Most wickets for India | Anil Kumble | 74 |
| Highest score | Sanath Jayasuriya | 340, Colombo 1997 |
| Highest score for India | Virender Sehwag | 293, Mumbai 2009 |
Biggest wins, by format:
- Tests: India by an innings and 222 runs (Mohali, 2022) and by 304 runs (Galle, 2017).
- ODIs: India by 317 runs (Thiruvananthapuram, 2023). Sri Lanka by 245 runs (Sharjah, 2000).
- T20Is: India by 124 runs (Nisshin, 2026).
India vs Sri Lanka latest match
October 1, 2026, Asian Games men’s T20I semi-final, Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin.
India 169/7 (Ishan Kishan 80 not out). Sri Lanka 45 all out in 9.5 overs. India won by 124 runs.
Axar Patel took 2/8 in 3 overs, and Abhishek Sharma took wickets off consecutive balls to finish it.
India vs Sri Lanka 2026 results
- 1st Test, Galle (August 15-19): India won by 165 runs. Devdutt Padikkal made 167, and Manav Suthar took ten wickets in the match.
- 2nd Test, Colombo (August 23-27): drawn. India made 503/9 declared, Sri Lanka followed on and finished 429/9 declared, with Sonal Dinusha unbeaten on 133.
- Test series: India won 1-0. Padikkal was player of the series with 328 runs.
- Asian Games semi-final (October 1): India won by 124 runs.
The December white-ball tour hasn’t started, so there are no results to list. Three ODIs come first, in Delhi (December 13), Bengaluru (December 16) and Ahmedabad (December 19). Three T20Is follow in Rajkot (December 22), Cuttack (December 24) and Pune (December 27).
India vs Sri Lanka rivalry records
| Record | Detail |
|---|---|
| First meeting | 1979 World Cup ODI |
| First Test | 1982 |
| First T20I | 2009 |
| Matches played | 253 (48 Tests, 171 ODIs, 34 T20Is) |
| Latest completed men’s meeting | October 1, 2026 |
| Biggest ODI win | India by 317 runs, 2023 |
| Highest Test total | Sri Lanka, 952/6 declared, 1997 |
| World Cup final | India won in 2011 |
| Latest Asia Cup final | India won in 2023 |
| Latest super over | India won in the 2025 Asia Cup |
Frequently asked questions
How many times have India and Sri Lanka played each other?
253 men’s internationals as of October 3, 2026: 48 Tests, 171 ODIs and 34 T20Is.
Who has won more India vs Sri Lanka matches?
India, with 146 wins to Sri Lanka’s 75. The rest are 18 draws, 2 ties and 12 no results.
What is India’s record against Sri Lanka in the World Cup?
India have won 5 of 10 ODI World Cup meetings, Sri Lanka 4, and one was washed out. At the T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka won both meetings.
What is India’s record against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup?
India have won 5 of the 8 finals between the two. In the T20I format, India lead 2-1.
Who has won more India vs Sri Lanka ODIs?
India: 99 wins to 59, with 2 ties and 11 no results from 171 games.
What is India’s T20I record against Sri Lanka?
India have won 24 of 34, Sri Lanka 9, with 1 no result.
When was the latest India vs Sri Lanka match?
October 1, 2026, in the Asian Games semi-final in Nisshin. India won by 124 runs. The next meetings are the three ODIs and three T20Is that start on December 13.
