AHMEDABAD, India, Dec 18 - India were 51 for one
at lunch after electing to bat on the opening day of the third
test against Sri Lanka on Sunday.
Opener Virender Sehwag was unbeaten on 20 and V.V.S. Laxman
on eight after paceman Lasith Malinga had the other opener,
Gautam Gambhir, caught at square leg by debutant Upul Tharanga.
Heavy dew delayed the start by one hour.
Sehwag, leading India in the place of an ill Rahul Dravid,
did not allow the cares of captaincy to curb his aggressive
batting style.
A straight drive off paceman Ferveez Maharoof went to the
fence, he glanced fast bowler Malinga for a boundary and,
nearing lunch, drove through the covers off spinner Muttiah
Muralitharan for four.
The left-handed Gambhir, under pressure to perform after
failing in the last three innings, was dismissed for 19 when he
mis-timed a hook.
Sri Lanka, in search of an elusive first test win on Indian
soil, made three changes.
Pacemen Malinga and Maharoof came in for ailing opening
bowlers Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando, while Tharanga
replaced an out-of-form Avishka Gunawardene at the top of the
batting order.
Leg-spinner Anil Kumble became the fifth Indian to play 100
tests, joining Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar and
Sachin Tendulkar in an elite group.