The third game in the series between these two Asian powerhouses saw India enter the contest with growing confidence after taking the first two games.
When India responded, Sachin Tendulkar left the game early, and to everyone’s amazement, an untested Mahendra Singh Dhoni exited at No. 3 in front of Rahul Dravid.
The Jharkhand boy then destroyed everything that came after. His legendary innings of 183 not out in just 145 balls, which included 15 fours and 10 sixes, enabled India to reach the goal with 23 balls remaining. And the Diwali of 2005 ended up being a momentous one.
In October, November, and December 2005, the Sri Lanka national cricket team traveled to India to play cricket. The tour was divided into two legs, with the India-Sri Lanka ODIs (played between October 25 and November 12, 2017) and the Tests (held in December) sandwiched between them.
One Day International series-
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India welcomed South Africa for a One Day International series. In the ICC ODI Championship standings before the ODI series, India was ranked eighth, while Sri Lanka was ranked second. Rahul Dravid had replaced Sourav Ganguly as captain of the Indian squad. Although they rested skipper Dravid and gave starter Virender Sehwag the reins for the sixth ODI, India defied expectations by winning the first four of the series seven one-day internationals to seal a 6-1 victory.
After scoring 86 runs in the six ODIs, Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka’s opener with 100 Tests and 345 ODIs, was benched for the Tests, and Rahul Dravid rose 18 spots on the ICC player rankings with 312 runs for twice out. The second-best average batter of the series and India’s wicket-keeper MS Dhoni created a name for himself by scoring 183 runs unbeaten in the third ODI match at Jaipur, which at the time was the sixth highest ODI batsman innings.
The Sri Lankan squad got off to a fast start and amassed 298 runs in 50 overs while losing only four wickets. Mahela Jayawardene made 71 significant runs, and Kumar Sangakkara scored 138.
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As a response, India was without Sachin Tendulkar at the start of the innings and MS Dhoni, a rookie player, played at number three instead of Rahul Dravid. With 10 sixes and 15 fours, MS Dhoni scores 183 runs in just 15 balls. With 23 balls remaining, the Indian team reached the target thanks to this inning. For Indian cricket fans, this triumph on Diwali became a special occasion.
