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The Galle International Stadium has not been a happy ground for India. They have often made all the wrong headlines here - they were at the receiving end of Muttiah Muralitharan's tryst with destiny when he claimed his 800th Test wicket here, almost exactly seven years ago.
Then, in 2015, the new-look Team India, with Virat Kohli at the helm, collapsed for just 112 runs on Day 4 while chasing a 176-run target.
A certain Rangana Herath took seven wickets that time around. Now, he will be leading Sri Lanka, at least for the Galle Test. But then things changed.
India came back from behind to win the next two Tests, both played at Colombo, by 278 runs and 117 runs respectively, to begin a streak of series wins for Kohli and his side.
So you could look at Galle with a little apprehension, or with anticipation. Maybe India will set their record here straight this time around. The series also brings back Ravi Shastri, well and truly in harness as coach, with the support staff that he was seeking.
His presence as team director in 2015 was also one of the aspects that spurred India to rally from the Galle loss to win the series.
A lot has changed since then as a young and aggressive Kohli has turned into a mature captain, who has led the side to 12 wins out of 17 Tests against West Indies, New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia in 2016-17 season.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.
Sri Lanka: Rangana Herath (c), Upul Tharanga, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Asela Gunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Danushka Gunathilaka, Dilruwan Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Malinda Pushpakumara, Nuwan Pradeep.
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