By: Tarish Bhatt
India have trusted in Hardik Pandya’s allround abilities, and handed him Test debut in the series opener against Sri Lanka. Pandya has already made his ODI and T20 debuts, and is a vital cog in India’s limited-overs squad.
The Indian team also made one change in the top-order. Shikhar Dhawan made a comeback in the Indian Test team. He replaced KL Rahul, who is down with fever. Dhawan opened the innings with Abhinav Mukund.
“KL Rahul is down with flu. So Dhawan steps in place,” Kohli said at the toss. “Otherwise the squad is similar, Pandya makes his debut, Shami and Umesh are the fast bowlers and Ashwin and Jadeja for spin.”
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“We thought we were a batsman short so we put in an allrounder,” the Indian captain pointed out. “We trust our four strike-bowlers to do the job and Pandya stepping in as well, he’s a wickettaker.”
India Playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Abhinav Mukund, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav
Sri Lanka Playing XI: Upul Tharanga, Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Gunathilaka, Angelo Manthews, Asela Gunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath (c), Nuwan Pradeep and Lahiru Kumara
