One of the most underappreciated aspects of Test cricket is the quality of pitches in Sri Lanka. Their groundstaff - who at times were prison inmates on penal labour duties teaming up with the regular staff - are famous for covering the whole ground in no time at all when it rains but the curators' expertise in creating excellent Test surfaces often goes undernoticed. Despite all that ever-present threat of rain on the island, there have been only two draws in 46 Tests in Sri Lanka since 2014.
Sri Lanka has managed such an impressive result rate without rolling out any diabolical surfaces: batting averages in both the first and the second innings are fifth-highest in Sri Lanka out of the 12 countries that have hosted Test cricket in this period. While spinners average 4.27 better than the fast bowlers, the dominance of one kind of bowling over the other is not as stark as in Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand where spinners hardly play a role.
With some of the more picturesque grounds in the world, grass banks to sit on and a general relaxed unhurried tempo to life, Sri Lanka has to be one of the most enjoyable Test-watching experiences in the world.
Spinners won't disagree even though long spells in the humidity can test their physical fitness. The ask of them is slightly different than, say, in India or Bangladesh.
Unlike in India and Bangladesh, it is the slower spinners that tend to succeed in Sri Lanka. In recent times, think Rangana Herath, think Dilruwan Perera, think Prabath Jayasuriya. Even among travelling spinners, for example, R Ashwin enjoys much better numbers in Sri Lanka than Ravindra Jadeja.
In India, nearly one out of every two Ashwin wickets - 175 out of 383 - were bowled or lbw. In Sri Lanka, only 13 of his 38 wickets, one out of three, were bowled or lbw. It points to availability of more bounce in Sri Lanka. When that happens, spinners tend to use overspin more because the little sideways turn is enough in order to get dismissals through catches at slips, gully, short leg and silly point. When you bowl overspin, you automatically end up slowing the ball down in the air.
That explains why, since 2020, the average pace of spinners in Sri Lanka has hovered around 83 kph as against 89 in India. It follows that while 4-5m remains the holy grail of spin bowling in Test cricket, you can afford to err on the fuller side in Sri Lanka as opposed to the shorter side in India. The numbers are better for 3-4m than 5-6m in Sri Lanka, which almost makes 3-5m the good length in Sri Lanka. In India, you go by the traditional 4-6m; anything fuller than 4m is overpitched.
Generally the Sri Lankan spinners have struggled to adjust to the slightly higher pace required in India than India's spinners when travelling to Sri Lanka. It is likely down to the quality of spinners. India have had two of the greatest of all time in recent times while even Muthiah Muralidaran and Herath didn't have a great time of it in India. That likely explains the better average for spinners in India even though Sri Lankan tracks offer more by the way of grip and turn. The spinners' average in India is skewed by the home spinners, who have for long outperformed the visitors by a significant margin. In Sri Lanka over the last 12 years, the difference between the average of home and visiting spinners has been just three.
Therein lies Sri Lanka's opportunity. India don't have Ashwin, Jadeja is not physically the same at the age of 37, despite all the promise Manav Suthar has played only one Test, and we will only believe Kuldeep Yadav is playing once he is on the sheet at the toss. How quickly the India spinners find the right pace and length to bowl will determine if the favourites tag for them is justified. Especially if they lose the first toss and have to likely do a containing job on day one because runs do come quickly when they come in Sri Lanka.
We will also know - especially from how Jadeja chooses to operate and how effective he is - whether bowling slow is a luxury or a necessity in Sri Lanka.