The resilience that has characterized the Indian cricket team in the recent past was on show once again in the Test series against Sri Lanka in mid-2010.

India went into the series with a depleted bowling attack. Zaheer Khan and S. Sreesanth sustained injuries, and had to pull out. Sri Lanka outplayed the visitors in the first Test at Galle by ten wickets. Muttiah Muralitharan, one of the all-time greats, bid adieu to Test cricket at the end of the game, with a tally of exactly 800 wickets.

Sri Lanka amassed 642-4 in the first innings of the second Test at Colombo, However, India replied in kind, with Sachin Tendulkar completing his fifth double hundred in Tests, and Suresh Raina becoming the twelfth Indian to score a century on his Test debut. The match was drawn.

India had to win the third Test, to be played at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo, to prevent a series loss. The absence of Gautam Gambhir since the second Test, and an injury to Harbhajan Singh before the third, did not make things any easier.

Sri Lanka batted first for the third time and scored 425. Sehwag blasted another hundred, but India seemed set to concede another first-innings lead, when Dhoni was seventh out at 350. The youngsters in the lower order then responded with some stubborn batting. Abhimanyu Mithun scored 46, and Amit Mishra 40. They helped India take a psychologically critical lead of 11.

Buoyed by their batting, the bowlers struck gold in the second innings. The hosts were 87-7, before Thilan Samaraweera and then Ajantha Mendis steered them to 267.

It was always going to be a challenge to chase 257, particularly after India were reduced to 49-3 on the fourth evening. The old firm of Tendulkar and Laxman then came to the fore. The duo added 109, before Tendulkar fell with the target 86 runs away.

The remainder of the game belonged to the artist. VVS Laxman took the bowling apart as only he can. Suresh Raina lent able support, and India completed a splendid five-wicket win in the afternoon. Laxman remained unbeaten with 103.

Sehwag, who had run for Laxman in the latter stages of his innings, won the Man of the Series award for his hundreds in the first and third Tests, 99 in the second, and seven wickets in the third Test.