Shubman Gill won only his third toss out of nine as Test captain and, as expected, decided to bat first on a Galle track expected to help bowlers less than it usually does. The pitch had even grass covering and no dry patches. It was expected to seam a bit while the early moisture dried but then ease out into a batting beauty.
India replaced the injured B Sai Sudharsan with another left-hand batter at No. 3, Devdutt Padikkal. Their XI went along expected lines with three left-arm spinners and two fast bowlers in Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.
Sri Lanka made a surprising change, giving a debut to the 25-year-old offspinner Keshara Nuwantha ahead of Ramesh Mendis. The rest of the XI went along expected lines with Nishan Fernando filling in for the injured opener Pathum Nissanka, and Niroshan Dickwella making a Test comeback after three years.
This was the 50th Test in Galle, and India’s 600th outing in Test cricket. Both sides were stranded in the middle of the table, and needed a 2-0 clean sweep in the series to give themselves a realistic chance of making the final of the World Test Championship.
India 1 KL Rahul, 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Shubman Gill (capt.), 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Dhruv Jurel, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Manav Suthar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Prasidh Krishna
Sri Lanka 1 Lahiru Igalagamage, 2 Nishan Fernando, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Kamindu Mendis, 5 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt.), 6 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 7 Sonal Dinusha, 8 Prabath Jayasuriya, 9 Keshara Nuwantha, 10 Asitha Fernando, 11 Lahiru Kumara