India’s Test team marked the country’s 80th Independence Day in Galle on Saturday, with members of the squad taking part in a flag-hoisting ceremony ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka.
India captain Shubman Gill hoisted the Tricolour in the presence of head coach Gautam Gambhir and the rest of Gill’s teammates.
The ceremony came on a historic day for Team India, who are playing their 600th Test. By doing so, India become only the third country to play 600 Tests, with England and Australia being the other teams.
Gill speaks on captaining India in 600th Test
Ahead of the match, Shubman Gill said that it was an honour to lead India in their 600th Test.
“Any Test match that you captain for your country [has a lot of importance]. Obviously, leading my country in our 600th Test match is a big honour and privilege for me and doing that on Independence Day, it is even more special for us,” the Punjab cricketer told reporters in Galle on Friday.
India won the toss and opted to bat first in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on Saturday. Devdutt Padikkal, who last played a Test in March 2024, has been named in the playing XI.
Padikkal will replace the injured Sai Sudharsan as India’s No.3 batter for the Test series against Sri Lanka, and comes on the back of an excellent outing in India’s practice match against Sri Lanka Cricket XI in Colombo.
He registered an unbeaten 142 in the first innings of that match, hitting 18 fours in the process.
Sai Sudharsan, on the other hand, was ruled out of the Test series against India due to a toe injury, with Sarfaraz Khan replacing him in the squad. Sarfaraz, however, wasn’t selected in India’s playing XI for the first Test against the. island nation.
Sai Sudharsan’s injury is not the only blow for India, who are also missing pacer Jasprit Bumrah due to a knee injury. Jammu & Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi eventually replaced Bumrah in the India squad. However, the visitors have gone with Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna as their pacers for the Test series opener.
Apart from Bumrah, pacer Harshit Rana and all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy were also ruled out of the Test series against Sri Lanka due to injuries.
The two-match Test series is part of the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
Both India and Sri Lanka are in need for important WTC points. While the Shubman Gill-led side are in fifth place with a points percentage (PCT) of 48.15, Sri Lanka are in sixth place with a PCT of 41.67. In WTC, it is not the total points that is taken into consideration, but the PCT.