India vs Sri Lanka Tests: Top 5 innings aggregates

#4. 1441 runs, at Chennai 1982. (Sri Lanka 346 and 394, India 566/6 dec and 135/7)

Duleep Mendis (c) pictured in 1984 put up a solid fight against India in the '82 series

In Sri Lanka’s first official tour of India, the visitors were trashed by the hosts in all three ODI’s.

Then came the only Test match at Chennai, where they were reduced to 11 for two down.

Another Sri Lankan batting collapse looked inevitable, but the duo of RL Dias and Duleep Mendis had other plans.

The partnership rescued Sri Lanka and allowed them to reach a respectable total.

After scoring a gritty hundred, Mendis was out leg before to India's slow left-armer Dilip Doshi, who claimed five wickets in the innings, while Dias accumulated 60 runs.

However, there was no such reprieve for Sri Lanka’s bowlers. India’s top order tormented the visitors with some classy and delightful batting.

Sunil Gavaskar scored an elegant 155 while Arun Lal and Vengserkar chipped in with half-centuries.

Sandeep Patil batted patiently with the tail-enders to push India’s first score and made an unbeaten hundred.

The inexperienced Sri Lankan bowlers failed to trouble India’s top quality batsmen and India declared their innings at 566 for six wickets.

The duo of Dias and Mendis returned in the second innings to again rescue the visitors - and it was their combined batting effort which ensured Sri Lanka was able to save the match. Mendis scored his second hundred of the game while Dias missed the triple figure mark by only three runs.

With a target of 175 runs to achieve in less than two sessions, India pushed the accelerator in the fourth innings.

However, Ashantha de Mel’s five wicket haul meant the Test ended in a draw.

Although the honours were shared in this Test with India being the strategically better team, Sri Lanka’s determined approach won them many accolades.