Test cricket returns today after two-and-a-half months of limited-overs matches. The No. 1 ICC Test ranking is up for grabs in this series as a well-balanced Sri Lanka try to improve their poor record in India. Over the past week, the sports pages have been swamped with coverage of Tendulkar completing 20 years at the international level, which has resulted in a muted build-up to the series.

Dhoni spins, heads is the call, it’s a tail and loud cheers all around as Dhoni opts to bat. Dhoni admits this is a big adjustment for India, who haven’t played a Test since the first week of April. India will need a big mental shift, he says, and welcomes back the likes of Dravid, Laxman, and Zaheer. Team news for India is that Sreesanth and Ojha are not in, which means it’s Zaheer, Ishant, Harbhajan and Mishra. The Tamil Nadu pair of Badrinath and Vijay were never expected to play. Wonder if they’ll go back to Ranji now.

Sangakkara says Sri Lanka are playing Welegedara and two spinners. So that means three pacers and two slow bowlers.

Big news: no Mendis, Kulasekara or Thushara. The attack consists of Murali, Herath, Prasad and Welegedara, with Mathews also there as the allrounder. Prasanna Jayawardene is keeping wicket. No word as to whether any of the three absent bowlers is injured. Mendis hasn’t been in top form of late in Tests so it’s understandable to an extent that Herath was picked ahead of him, but to me the absence of Kulasekara and Thushara is surprising. They have been really good as a pair for Sri Lanka this year and I can’t see them being sidelined for Prasad and Welegedara.

By the way pitch is a bat-first one, and it look pretty hard. Just a little bit of moisture in it.