New Delhi: Team India took an unassailable 2-0 lead Sri Lanka in three-match Test series after their victory in Colombo. The third match of the tour will start on August 12 as Virat Kohli looks to finish his 8th series win as captain with a 3-0 clean sweep. (IND vs SL - Full Coverage)
In doing so, Kohli will register a new record against his name. After becoming captain in 2015, he played his first series in Sri Lanka and started with 2-1 win, since then he has continued unbeaten. India won seven consecutive series before this one and presently stand on an 8-0 scoreline.
The Men in Blue no have the opportunity of winning three straight Test matches abroad for the first time ever in their Test cricket history, and at the same time complete a whitewash.
Clean sweep to create history
Virat Kohli-led team won both matches easily and will hope to continue winning streak in the third and final Test starting on August 12 Pallekele.
The last time India won three Tests in a series on foreign soil was when the Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi-led team defeated New Zealand in February-March 1968 in New Zealand, winning the series of four Test matches 3-1. The team went on to lose the second Test in Christchurch after winning the first Test in Dunedin, and hence a clean sweep wasn't possible.
India had a chance of winning all three Tests in England in 1986 but Kapil Dev's team could only draw in the third Test after winning two matches.
Talking about whitewashes in their Test history, India have so far only been able to have achieve it against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, but the series was limited to one or two Tests. India achieved this in a series of 2004 and 2010, against Bangladesh in 2000. Other than that, Team India have also defeated Zimbabwe 2-0 in two games on their travels.
All in all, with a victory at Pallekele, Team India are in pole position to achieve their first ever clean sweep in a series of 3 matches or more away from home.
