India opt to bat against Sri Lanka in pink ball Test

India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat against Sri Lanka in Saturday's pink ball Test in Bangalore with a series sweep in view.

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The hosts, who won the opener of the two-match series inside three days, have made one change with left-arm spinner Axar Patel coming in for Jayant Yadav.

India have won both their previous two day-night Tests at home against Bangladesh in 2019 and England last year. They lost to Australia in a floodlit Test at Adelaide in 2020.

"It looks like a dry pitch and runs on the board are important," Rohit, who is playing his 400th international match, said at the toss.

"When it comes to mindset we want to be ruthless. It is going to be a challenging Test match."

Sri Lanka, led by Dimuth Karunaratne, have made two changes from their innings and 222-run thrashing in Mohali.

Kusal Mendis and Praveen Jayawickrama replace Pathum Nissanka and Lahiru Kumara, both out to injury.

"The wicket is pretty dry and it will turn later on, so we wanted to bat first as well," said Karunaratne.

Sri Lanka has never won a Test in India.

The match will be fast bowler Suranga Lakmal's last.

The 35-year-old Lakmal has claimed 170 wickets in 69 Tests since his 2010 debut.

The 40 000 capacity M Chinnaswamy stadium is operating at full capacity as the domestic Covid threat recedes and ground officials told AFP the stadium is sold out for the first two days.

Teams

India

Rohit Sharma (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

Sri Lanka

Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella