Mendis added the wickets of Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan to his capture of Laxman.

BBC: Sri Lankan spinners crush India

Then in the final over of the day Samaraweera drove at Harbhajan Singh and Rahul Dravid took a neat low catch at slip.

BBC: SPORT | Cricket | Sri Lanka falter in record chase

Already without batsmen Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh because of injuries, the hosts suffered a setback before the start of play when the experienced VVS Laxman failed to recover in time from a finger problem.

BBC: Jacques Kallis ton puts S Africa on top against India

But the Indian batting order, which usually rests on the shoulders of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, has taken on a new dimension in the form of Mahendra Dhoni, Irfan Pathan and Jai Prakash Yadav.

BBC: SPORT | Cricket | International Teams | India | New era for India

More troubling for Congress are signs that Mr Singh's presumed successor as prime minister, Rahul Gandhi, a scion of the party's dominant family, is fumbling too.

ECONOMIST: Is the ruling party losing its way?

Singh (41) put on an unbroken 64 with Rahul Dravid (30) as India declared on 184-8 after collapsing embarrassingly.

BBC: Sussex hang on to deny India win

Rahul Gandhi, the vice president of the Congress party, on Thursday visited Mr. Singh's wife, sister and two daughters.

WSJ: Prisoner's Death Frays India-Pakistan Ties

Many have a jaundiced view of Mrs Gandhi's technocratic prime minister, Manmohan Singh, and look forward to her 39-year-old son, Rahul, taking over.

ECONOMIST: Indian politics and women

Singh, pharma entrepreneur K.Anji Reddy, vaccines-maker Cyrus Poonawalla, Rahul Bajaj, patriarch of the Bajaj Group, Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge and tech tycoons Azim Premji and Shiv Nadar.

FORBES: Bill Gates, Warren Buffett court India's richest