Captain Dinesh Chandimal's Sri Lankan team hopes to do what none of the country's previous teams touring India have been able to accomplish, i.e., winning a Test match - especially having been recently wiped out in all formats when Virat Kohli's boys toured the island nation earlier this year.
In all, the Lankans lost nine international matches - 3-0 in Tests, 5-0 in ODIs and 1-0 in the lone T20I - on home soil against India between July and September this year.
Here's a lowdown on the stats that tell why the odds are stacked heavily against the tourists when the three-Test series begins in Kolkata's Eden Gardens on Thursday.
INDIA
Test ranking: 1
Captain: Virat Kohli
Coach: Ravi Shastri
Squad: Virat Kohli (captain), KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma
Recent form:
Beat Sri Lanka 3-0 in three-match away series
Beat Australia 2-1 in four-match home series
Beat Bangladesh in one-off home test
Beat England 4-0 in five-match home series
Beat New Zealand 3-0 in three-match home series
SRI LANKA
Test ranking: 6
Coach: Nic Pothas
Captain: Dinesh Chandimal
Squad: Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Dilruwan Perera, Lahiru Gamage, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Dasun Shanaka, Niroshan Dickwella (wicketkeeper), Roshen Silva
Recent form:
Beat Pakistan 2-0 in two-match away series
Lost to India 3-0 in three-match home series
Beat Zimbabwe in one-off home test
Drew with Bangladesh 1-1 in two-test home series
Lost to South Africa 3-0 in three-match away series
HEAD TO HEAD
Total: 41
India wins: 19
Sri Lanka wins: 7
Draws: 15
TESTS IN INDIA
Total: 17
India wins: 10
Draws: 7
LAST SIX TESTS
Pallekele, August 2017 - India won by an innings and 171 runs
Colombo, August 2017 - India won by an innings and 53 runs
Galle, July 2017 - India won by 304 runs
Colombo, August 2015 - India won by 117 runs
Colombo, August 2015 - India won by 278 runs
Galle, August 2015 - Sri Lanka won by 63 runs
FIXTURES (all start 0930 IST):
1st Test - November 16-20, Kolkata
2nd Test - November 24-28, Nagpur
3rd Test - December 2-6, Delhi
(Stats by: Reuters)
