India, Aug. 5 -- For much of the past two decades, India's Test tour of Sri Lanka used to occupy a curious space in the calendar. It was technically an overseas assignment, but rarely felt like one. India used to land with the confidence of a side that knew both the conditions and the opposition. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, struggled through a difficult post-golden-generation existence, their decline was laid bare every time India visited.

The last tour, in 2017, was almost embarrassingly one-sided. India won by 304 runs in Galle, an innings and 53 runs in Colombo, and an innings and 171 runs in Pallekele. Three emphatic victories, each Test feeling less like a contest and more like a demonstration of the widening gulf between two neighbours....