India opt bat in opening Sri Lanka test

AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - India won the toss and elected to bat in the first test of the three-match series against Sri Lanka Monday.

The hosts have been boosted by the return of left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan, following a long injury layoff, to spearhead the attack along with Ishant Sharma.

India batsman Sachin Tendulkar joins a select band of 15 players whose test careers have spanned over 20 years.

Sri Lanka are aiming to record their first test win on Indian soil and named a five-man bowling attack led by master spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.

Muralitharan, record holder for most wickets in both test and one-day cricket, is playing in his last overseas test series after announcing his intentions to retire from the longer form of the sport at the end of next year.

The visitors named left-arm spinner Rangana Herath to partner Muralitharan and have recalled left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegedara for his first test in two years in place of regular seamer Nuwan Kulasekera.

Teams:

Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene, Dammika Prasad, Rangana Herath, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chanaka Welegedara.

India: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Dhoni (captain), Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma.

(Reporting by Sanjay Rajan; Editing by John O'Brien)