Captains Mahela Jayawardene and Anil Kumble identified record-breaking spinner Ajantha Mendis as the difference between the sides as Sri Lanka sealed a 2-1 series victory over India.

Jayawardene and Malinda Warnapura each struck half-centuries as the Lankans claimed an eight-wicket victory in the third and final Test in Colombo on Monday.

But it was the bowlers, in particular spin twins Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan, who laid the foundations for victory.

Mendis, 23, claimed 26 wickets in his debut series to surpass Alec Bedser’s 62-year-old record and India skipper Kumble was fulsome in his praise for the newcomer.

"In terms of the bowling, obviously Mendis was the difference, picking up 26 wickets," Kumble said.

"With Murali and Mendis together it is not easy to get runs off them and we kept losing wickets because of the pressure created by the two of them.

"The batsmen didn’t put up a good show here and it probably cost us the series. It was critical the middle order got runs and there was not enough consistency by the batters.

"Overall, Sri Lanka bowled better and took their catches better. They played better cricket throughout the series and they are deservedly the winners."

Sri Lanka captain Jayawardene hailed the positive impact of Mendis on and off the field.

"Ajantha was brilliant, adding a different dimension to the bowling attack," he said.

"He has fitted into the dressing room well and has been very humble in all his achievements, which is great to see."

The series win saw Sri Lanka rise above England into fourth in the ICC Test rankings and they closing in on India, who are just one point ahead of them.

For India, there was more bad news as Sachin Tendulkar was forced to withdraw from the upcoming one-day series because of injury.

The batsman jarred his left elbow while attempting a catch on Saturday.

He did not take the field for the rest of the innings and, despite coming out to bat lower down the order in India’s second innings on Sunday, will not feature in the one-dayers.