The Indian men’s cricket team are taking on Sri Lanka in the first Test of the two-match series in Galle on Saturday (August 15). Ahead of the start of the match at the Galle International Stadium, Indian players and members of the support staff celebrated the country’s 80th Independence Day. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took to X and Instagram to share a video of India captain Shubman Gill hoisting the national flag. Here’s a look:
On the occasion of Independence Day, #TeamIndia gathered at Galle to hoist the Tricolour �� ahead of the First #SLvIND Test.#IndependenceDay pic.twitter.com/tHKIggV6AU — BCCI (@BCCI) August 15, 2026
The ongoing first Test in Galle is India’s 600th match in the five-day format. India played their first-ever Test match at Lord’s in 1932 against England, and 94 years later, they are playing their 600th Test. Before India, only England and Australia had played 600-plus Test matches. Jadeja returns India skipper Shubman Gill won the toss and opted to bat first in the opening Test. For the series opener against Sri Lanka, India included Ravindra Jadeja in the playing XI along with Devdutt Padikkal. Jadeja was surprisingly left out of India’s Test squad for the one-off match against Afghanistan in June 2026, while Padikkal last played a Test match in November 2024 against Australia in Perth. Padikkal was included in the XI in place of the injured Sai Sudharsan, who had slammed a half-century against Afghanistan in Mullanpur. Playing XIs India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Manav Suthar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna Sri Lanka: Lahiru Udara, Nishan Fernando, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (C), Sonal Dinusha, Niroshan Dickwella (WK), Keshara Nuwantha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando
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