Sri Lanka 'A' won the toss and elected to bat in the three-day tour match against India at the Leicester County Cricket Club, Grace Road, on Friday.
The Indian team, on a high after winning the second Test against England at Trent Bridge, opted to make quite a few changes.
Ranadeb Bose, Ishant Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, Ramesh Powar and Yuvraj Singh were drafted into the side with the obvious aim of giving them some useful match practice.
Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Sourav Ganguly, R P Singh and S Sreesanth were rested.
Interestingly, Dinesh Karthik was given the 'keeping gloves ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The atmosphere at the ground was festive, with young kids dancing danced to tune to Kajra re and other Bollywood hits. The Asian community in Leicester has come out in large numbers to support both teams.
India lead the three-Test series against England 1-0 after winning the second match. The first Test at Lord's ended in a draw. The third Test starts at the Oval from August 9.
Teams:
India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik (w/k), VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, M S Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Ramesh Powar, Ishant Sharma, Ranadeb Bose.
Sri Lanka 'A': Thilan Samaraweera (captain), Michael Vandort, Mahela Udawatte, Malinda Warnapura, Dilruwan Perera, Kaushal Silva (w/k), Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Rangana Herath, Dammika Prasad, Akalanka Ganegama, Chanaka Welegedara.
