India won the toss and decided to bat first in the second Test against Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo.
For Sri Lanka, their regular captain Dinesh Chandimal, who missed the series-opener with pneumonia, has recovered and returned to the side. Rangana Herath, who did not bat in the second innings at Galle due to injury, has also been cleared to play while Dhananjaya de Silva has replaced the injured Asela Gunaratne in the playing eleven. Malinda Pushpakumara is also making his debut.
India, on the other hand, has made just one change to the playing eleven, including KL Rahul in place of Abhinav Mukund. Rahul is playing his first game for India since injuring his shoulder against Australia in March.
Here is what the captains said:
Virat Kohli:
“Always feels good to win the toss. We will bat first. The surface looks nice and rolled in, plus some grass to keep it together. We have recovered well and understood the importance of rest, too. The practice sessions have been short and sharp, and we are very well prepared to go into this Test. Abhinav Mukund misses out, and the rest we are playing the same team. KL (Rahul) is our champion opener but Abhinav understands the dynamics of how a team works.”
Dinesh Chandimal:
“Much better now. Was a tough time for me and my family, the last 10 days. India played really good cricket in Galle but you just have to take the positives out of the game. As a batter, if you get a start, you need to score big guns, like Shikhar did in the first game. Bowlers need to stick to their plans. Looks like a dry surface but looking forward to keeping them to a minimum. We have three changes: myself, Malinda Pushpakumara will make his debut today, and Dhananjaya de Silva.”
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will be hoping that the return of their captain changes their fortunes and they bounce back after the humiliating 304-run defeat in the first Test at Galle. On the other hand, the high-flying Indian team would be keen to wrap up the series ahead of the final Test at Pallekele.
Here is the playing eleven of both the teams:
India:
Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami
Sri Lanka:
Dimuth Karunaratne, Upul Tharanga, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal(c), Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella(w), Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Malinda Pushpakumara, Nuwan Pradeep