COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) India captain Virat Kohli has won the toss and elected to bat in the second cricket test as he pushes to wrap up the three-match series with a game to spare against Sri Lanka.
India opened the series with an emphatic 304-run victory in Galle last week. Still, Kohli made a change to the winning combination by recalling opening batsman Lokesh Rahul, who missed the first match because of flu, in place of Abhinav Mukund.
Sri Lanka made three changes for the second test, with skipper Dinesh Chandimal returning after missing the Galle test because of pneumonia. He replaces Danushka Gunathilaka, while seam bowler Lahiru Kumara was dropped and Asela Gunaratne was ruled out with an injury.
Sri Lanka has added extra strength to its spin bowling department by handing a first test cap to left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara to work with Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera.
The test is 100th first-class match for Pushpakumara, who has 558 first-class wickets.
Nuwan Pradeep is the only seam bowler in the lineup.
Lineups:
Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Upul Tharanga, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Malinda Pushpakumara, Nuwan Pradeep.
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.
