Shikhar Dhawan (190) and Chesteshwar Pujara (144 not out) put India in a commanding position as the visitors reached 399/3 on Day 1 of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle. In the first session, India lost Abhinav Mukund cheaply for 12. Following which, Dhawan and Pujara stitched together a record 253-run partnership for the second wicket. Dhawan, who was hitting the Lankan bowlers at will, fell 10 runs short of his maiden double ton just before tea. Post tea, Sri Lanka got the important wicket of India captain Virat Kohli, who was dismissed for three runs. For Sri Lanka, Nuwan Pradeep returned with the figures of 3/64 in his 18 overs.

Earlier, Hardik Pandya was included in the playing XI and got his Test cap from captain Virat Kohli. Kuldeep Yadav surprisingly has been dropped. While Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav are the two fast bowlers in the team, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will take care of the spin bowling.

While India start as overwhelming favourites after the seventh-ranked Sri Lanka scraped past Zimbabwe in a one-off Test last week, Shastri has warned against complacency. The visitors played a drawn two-day warm-up game in Colombo with returning batsman Shikhar Dhawan among the scorers.

Opener Lokesh Rahul, who scored a half-century in the practice game, has been ruled out of the first match due to viral fever with Tamil Nadu batsman Abhinav Mukund taking his place in the starting eleven. Sri Lanka, whose new Test skipper Dinesh Chandimal has been ruled out through flu, will need all the experience of stand-in captain Rangana Herath. The left-arm spinner, who took 11 wickets against Zimbabwe and his 31st five-wicket haul in 81 Tests, is key for Sri Lanka.

Courtesy:NDTV