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Mendis gets Tendulkar after recovery

Toss India chose to bat v Sri Lanka
After two days of speculation over player injuries and the possibility of another run fest, the cricket got underway with India winning the first battle: the toss. MS Dhoni chose to bat under clear skies and humid conditions in Nagpur.

The presence of rain leading into this match carried no weight in Dhoni's mind when he made his decision at the toss. The pitch, fairly dry and virtually grassless, was expected to once again aid the batsmen all through the match with the seam bowlers likely to be in for a tough time. But both teams, who played on the same strip in the first Twenty20 recently, believe it will be more spin-friendly as the day progresses.

Sri Lanka, seeking to level the series and improve their poor record against India at home - they have won only ten of 38 matches - made a slew of changes. They selected two spinners, Ajantha Mendis and the debutant Suraj Randiv, and dropped Nuwan Kulasekara and Sanath Jayasuriya. Thilan Samaraweera also made way for Chamara Kapugedera in the middle order after impressing in the Twenty20s. Lasith Malinga, who missed the Rajkot game, was not restored to the side and rookie fast bowler Suranga Lakmal was also handed a debut.

India were unchanged.

India: 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 4 Gautam Gambhir, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Virat Kohli, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish Nehra.

Sri Lanka: 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt/wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Chamara Kapugedara, 6 Thilina Kandamby, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Suraj Randiv, 9, Chanaka Welegedara, 10 Ajantha Mendis, 11 Suranga Lakmal.