Shubman Gill wins toss, India elect to bat in first Test at Galle

India captain Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to bat against Sri Lanka in the first Test at Galle on Saturday, August 15, 2026. The decision set India to open their innings on day one of the fixture.

India named a largely unchanged playing XI from their last Test against Afghanistan in June, with Devdutt Padikkal drafted into the side. Padikkal comes into the lineup as a replacement for the injured Sai Sudharsan. The selection retained the core group used in the previous Test.

India: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Manav Suthar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.

Sri Lanka: Lahiru Udara, Nishan Madushka, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Sonal Dinusha, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Keshara Nuwantha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando. Sri Lanka have handed a debut to Keshara Nuwantha, described in the report as an off-spin bowling all-rounder.

A photograph accompanying the match report showed KL Rahul playing a shot during day one in Galle; the image credit is AP. The article metadata states it was published at August 15, 2026 10:36 am IST and updated at August 15, 2026 10:37 am IST.

The match is the opening contest of a two-Test series between India and Sri Lanka.