India elect to bat against Sri Lanka in opening Test

Galle July 26 (IANS) India skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat against Sri Lanka in the first of the three-match Test series here on Wednesday.

Playing the first game under new coach Ravi Shastri India decided to go with five bowlers. All-rounder Hardik Pandya is making his Test debut.

Sri Lanka meanwhile is led by stand-in-skipper Rangana Herath in place of Dinesh Chandimal who is down with pneumonia.

India: Virat Kohli (Captain) Shikhar Dhawan Cheteshwar Pujara Ajinkya Rahane Ravichandran Ashwin Ravindra Jadeja Wriddhiman Saha (WK) Umesh Yadav Hardik Pandya Mohammed Shami and Abhinav Mukund.

Sri Lanka: Rangana Herath (Captain) Upul Tharanga Dimuth Karunaratne Kusal Mendis Angelo Mathews Asela Gunaratne Niroshan Dickwella (WK) Danushka Gunathilaka Dilruwan Perera Lahiru Kumara and Nuwan Pradeep.

--IANS
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