Sri Lanka skipper Dhananjaya de Silva won the toss and opted to bowl against Afghanistan in the first-ever Test match between the two nations played at the SSC Ground in Colombo.
The match kicked off at 10 a.m. on Friday (Feb.02) with both sides hoping to give a solid performance.
This is the first time that Dhananjaya has been appointed as the captain of Sri Lanka.
Chamika Gunasekara is making his Test debut for the Lions, while Afhganistan’s side has four debutants – Noor Ali Zadran, Qais Ahmad, Zia ur Rehman, and Naveed Zadran.
Hashmatullah Shahidi-led visitors will be missing out on the services of their star player Rashid Khan, who is still recovering from his back surgery.
Sri Lanka (Playing XI) - Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva (C), Sadeera Samarawickrama (WK), Chamika Gunasekara (On Test debut), Prabath Jayasuriya, Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando
Afghanistan (Playing XI) - Ibrahim Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran (On Test debut), Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Nasir Jamal, Ikram Alikhil (WK), Qais Ahmad (On Test debut), Zia ur Rehman (On Test debut), Mohammad Saleem, Naveed Zadran (On Test debut), Nijat Masood
