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Ahmedabad: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat against Sri Lanka in the first Test at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium in Motera on Monday.
The Indian team has had a non-stop dish of limited-over cricket, 50-over and Twenty20, over the last six months and played their last Test series against New Zealand in March-April early this year.
The Indian middle order has been bolstered by the return of Test specialists Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, who were not part of the squad that lost to Australia after squandering a 2-1 lead by losing the next three matches in-a-row.
The match is a landmark for Sachin Tendulkar as he steps into his 21st year in international cricket.
With a strong sense of history he would be keen as ever to make the Test another occasion to remember.
Incidentally, it was at this ground that Sunil Gavaskar became the first man to complete 10,000 Test runs against Pakistan in March, 1987 and Kapil Dev overhauled Richard Hadlee's record to become the highest wicket taker in Tests against Sri Lanka in February, 1994.
The return of the experienced Zaheer Khan from a five-month injury lay-off has also boosted India's hopes against the Lankans who are determined to set right their winless Test record in this country in 14 previous attempts, that includes eight defeats.
India's overall record in Tests played at this stadium is three victories, two losses and four draws in nine matches since 1983.
More importantly they have beaten Lanka by big margins on both the occasions previously at this venue - by an innings and 17 runs in 1994 and by 259 runs in December, 2005.
Sri Lanka, who have come here boosted by back-to-back Test series wins over New Zealand and Pakistan at home, would also fancy their chances if the track takes spin early - with the presence of three tweakers - including the world's leading Test wicket taker Muttiah Muralitharan - in their ranks.
The previous Test series between the two countries was dominated by unorthodox slow bowler Ajantha Mendis with his carom balls but since then Dhoni and his men seem to have found a way to play the bowler well, at least in ODIs.
