Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first. Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul came to bat in the first innings but had to return without a ball being bowled as rain plays spoilsport once again. Though it was Suranga Lakmal who had a perfect day at the office as he took three wickets including Dhawan, Rahul and the skipper Virat Kohli. Lakmal bowled six maiden overs on the trot before bad light interrupted play.
Good news for Kolkata crowd is that the President of Cricket Association Bengal (CAB) and former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly has assured that the game can start within 20 minutes if rain stops.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will be returning to the Indian side as they are lethal on subcontinent pitches. Ashwin is 8 wickets away from becoming the fastest to 300 Test wickets in the world. The off-spinner is expected to achieve this feat in the three-Test series. On the other hand, Jadeja will be looking to reclaim the top spot in ICC Test rankings.
Dinesh Chandimal-led Sri Lanka will be looking for a turnaround as they were outclassed at home by India earlier this year. However, the came back strongly against Pakistan by winning the Test series by 2-0. They will be looking to continue their winning streak in the longest version of the game.
India Playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami
Sri Lanka Playing XI: Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal(c), Niroshan Dickwella(w), Dasun Shanaka, Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Gamage
Squads:
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Lokesh Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Niroshan Dickwella, Dinesh Chandimal, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dilruwan Perera, Angelo Mathews, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Dhananjaya de Silva, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Gamage, Dasun Shanaka, Roshen Silva
