India opt to bat first in Colombo Test

India won the toss and elected to bat first in the second Test of the ongoing three-match series against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) here on Thursday.

For India, opener KL Rahul returns into the Playing XI while Abhinav Mukund misses out.

Rahul had missed the opening Test as he was laid low by a viral fever.

"Abhinav Mukund misses out, and the rest we are playing the same team. KL is our champion opener but Abhinav understands the dynamics of how a team works," said skipper Virat Kohli after winning the toss.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka has made three changes in their Playing XI. Malinda Pushpakumara makes his Test debut for the hosts while skipper Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva are also included in the line-up.

India is already 1-0 in series after winning the first Test at Galle by a monstrous margin of 304 runs.

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): 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

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav.

-ANI