Tour of Sri Lanka 1985-86        Captain: Kapil Dev
	India's 24th Test tour     First official Test-playing tour of Sri Lanka by India        (August - September 1985)	On their first official Test tour of Sri Lanka, the Indians lost the Test series and a one-day international. It was partly due to a lack of proper preparation and practice, which contrasted with the thoroughness of the Sri Lankans, and partly due to overconfidence and a casual approach. The tour was planned to commence on 5 September but the date was brought forward to 27 August. Because of the threat of ethnic violence strict security was in force throughout the tour, the last to be safely completed on the island until 1990. India might have expected to have the best of the one-day series as 1983 World Cup champions, winners of the B & H World Series Cup in March 1985 and of the Sharjah Cup in April. However, the umpires called off play in the 3rd ODI owing to bad light with the home side 32 for 4, which left the series tied at one match-all. There was more umpiring controversy in the Test series and the Sri Lankans took the 2nd Test decisively as doubtful decisions went against Vengsarkar, Azharuddin and Gavaskar, who had opted to bat in the middle order instead of opening. In the 3rd Test some blatant time-wasting saved the match for Sri Lanka  who won its first Test series.  As the Indians saw the series slipping away, complaints about the umpiring became more frequent, and a diplomatic initiative by politicians was needed to calm the touring party.	Other Indian tours       Previous tour Pakistan 1984-85     Next tour Australia 1985-86     Next Sri Lankan tour 1993-94
	Members of the Test tour  party  (14)     Opening batsmen:Sunil Gavaskar, Kris Srikkanth, Lalchand Rajput Middle-order batsmen: Mohinder Amarnath,  Dilip Vengsarkar, Mohammad Azharuddin Wicket-keeper:Sadanand Viswanath Spin bowlers Maninder Singh, Gopal Sharma, Ravi Shastri Fast bowlers:  Kapil Dev, Rajinder Singh Ghai, Roger Binny (r), Chetan Sharma.	M B Amarnath D 34 RHB   RM   Mohammad Azharuddin Hd 22 RHB   S M Gavaskar B 36 RHB  opener   R S Ghai Pj 25 RFM   Kapil Dev Hy 26 RHB    RFM  captain   Maninder Singh D 20 SLA   L S Rajput B 23 RHB  opener   Chetan Sharma Hy 19 RFM   Gopal Sharma UP 25 OB   R J Shastri B 23 RHB   SLA   vice-captain   L. Sivaramakrishnan TN 19 LBG   K Srikkanth TN 25 RHB  opener   D B Vengsarkar B 29 RHB   S Viswanath K 22 WK	Representation of teams:     B   -  Bombay (4) D  -  Delhi (2) Hy – Haryana (2) H  -  Hyderabad (1) K  -  Karnataka (1) Pj  - Punjab (1) TN - Tamil Nadu (2) UP - Uttar Pradesh (1)         Average age of  team at time of first Test match (30 August 1985) :      25 yrs 4 months.
	Test Appearances made before the tour	Gavaskar 106, Vengsarkar 76, Kapil Dev 68, Amarnath 49, Shastri 34,  Binny 18, Maninder 13, Srikkanth 8, Sivaramakrishnan 6, C.Sharma 5, Azharuddin 3, G.Sharma 1, Rajput 0, Viswanath 0, Ghai 0.
	Team Officials	M.L.Jaisimha Tour Manager Gulshan Rai (Delhi) 2nd official   Physiotherapist
	Selectors	B S Bedi (chairman),  Hanumant Singh,  Kripal Singh,  Ambar Roy,  C G Borde and  M M Sood.
	Selection	Unavailable:  none known. Patil?    Tour Party Announced :  8 August 1985. Not selected   Roger Binny, Madan Lal and TA Sekhar because Ghai was picked with the potential to be the fastest bowler in India. Kirmani was dropped after Viswanath’s performance in the World Championship of Cricket in 1985	Time between selection and departure from India   12 days  (8 August - 20 August)
	Travel	All the players assembled in Bombay by 17 August except Srikkanth. The professionals - Shastri, Vengsarkar, Chetan Sharma, Rajinder Singh Ghai and Amarnath - arrived in Bombay from league commitments in England on 14 August, as had Gavaskar and Rajput the week before.  Kapil Dev was delayed by an attack of viral fever. On 20 August 1985 the team flew out of Bombay and landed in Colombo on the eve of their opening match.	Time spent in Sri Lanka   35 days (20 August - 24 September)
	On-tour selection	Kapil Dev (captain),  Shastri (vice-captain),  Jaisimha (manager)
	Reinforcements	R M H Binny   30 RFM   Mohinder Amarnath was suffering from dizzy spells and Ghai injured. The management asked for Roger Binny to fly in and strengthen the squad. He was one of 8 stand-bys for the tour and was in England for the Bhopal victims' relief fund.  He arrived in Bombay on 31 August and in  Colombo on Tuesday 3 September  to take the place of Ghai (injured) Sivaramakrishnan injured a finger on his bowling hand early in the tour.
	Fixtures/Results	Colombo  (NCC) Sri Lanka Colts XI Drawn § Colombo (SSC) Si Lanka  (1st ODI) Won 2 w Moratuwa Sri Lanka Board President's XI Drawn COLOMBO  (SSC ) SRI LANKA  First Test DRAWN COLOMBO  (PSS) SRI LANKA  Second Test LOST 149 r KANDY SRI LANKA  Third Test DRAWN § Colombo (PSS) Sri Lanka  (2nd ODI) Lost 14 r § Colombo (PSS) Sri Lanka (3rd ODI) No result   NCC - Nondescripts C.C. ground   SSC - Sinhalese Sports Club   PSS - P.Saravanamuttu Stadium	† not first-class §  one-day international     Time spent in Sri Lanka before First Test:  10 days (20 August - 30 August)
	Test appearances on tour	3 -   Azharuddin, Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Chetan Sharma, Shastri, Srikkanth, Vengsarkar, Viswanath 2 -   Amarnath, Maninder, Rajput. 1 -   Binny, Gopal Sharma, Sivaramakrishnan. 0 -   Ghai.
	Highlights	•    Vengsarkar (98*) in the first Test held up Sri Lanka long enough to save the match. •    Srikkanth, Gavaskar and Amarnath scored fifties on the third day of the second Test but it was Kapil Dev’s innings of 78 that made Sri Lanka fear they would not force a victory •    Amarnath struck a century in the third Test match •    Kapil Dev became India's leading wicket-taker (267 wickets) when Silva was caught at Kandy. •    .
	Tour Summary	P W L D Aban Test Matches 3 0 1 2 - Other first-class matches 2 0 0 2 - ϯ Minor matches 0 - - - - § One-day internationals 3 1 1 1 - All Matches 8 1 2 5 -
	Return to India	The team flew out of Colombo on 24 September and arrived in Bombay rather than Madras where a 12-hour Tamil Nadu bandh and mass fast to express anguish at the suffering of the Tamils was taking place.  All government institutions and public transport facilities were closed. The tourists then went straight to their home areas to play in the next round of matches.	Time away from India   35 days   (20 August to 24 September)
	Finances	No guarantee money was paid. The Sri Lankan Board picked up all the expenses, paying the players 2000 rupees a week besides a set tour fee.

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