Sachin Tendulkar looks on during a practice session. Tendulkar will start the series a day after celebrating the 20th anniversary of his Test debut as a teenager.
(AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Sri Lankan cricketers may have been regular visitors to India, but the fact that they haven’t won a Test match in this country is almost embarrassing, given the improvement they have shown in a very short span in the longer version of the game. There have been quite a few Test wins and a couple of series wins in Pakistan, who have probably had better teams compared to India, but there have been no wins in 14 attempts in India.

But this time around, Kumar Sangakkara’s side has shown a real eagerness to set the record straight and have done everything possible to record that elusive win in the series opener starting today, here at the Sardar Patel Stadium, in Ahemdabad.

Preparations have been so meticulous that the Sri Lankans brought down 180 SG balls, used in India for international games, for practices in Colombo two weeks ahead of their departure to India. The SG ball, which has a superior seam, is supposed to give the spin bowlers a better a grip and assist reverse swing more than the Kookaburra ball used in Sri Lanka.

There’s more reason for the Sri Lankans to focus as a series win here will take them above South Africa as the world’s best cricket team, according to the official ratings. Currently, Kumar Sangakkara’s side is ranked number two and a 1-0 series win is sufficient for them to replace South Africa.

Yesterday, the Sri Lankans finished off preparations with an extended practice session that lasted for nearly four hours and despite the lack of match practice after their three day game was washed off, captain Kumar Sanagkkara remained upbeat about his team’s chances.

"Not getting any match practice is not the ideal thing, but we had adequate practice to compensate for that and we have prepared sufficiently," Sangakkara told journalists yesterday.

Star batsman Tillekeratne Dilshan, who sprained his ankle during practices four days ago, has recovered and will continue in his new position as opener.

Selecting the final 11 remained Sri Lanka’s only worry, with left-arm spinner Rangana Herath making a strong impact to be in the playing 11 ahead of Ajantha Mendis, who mesmerized the Indians last time when these two teams met in a Test series last year in Sri Lanka.

Since being urgently flown in from England to replace the injured Muttiah Muralitharan, Herath has performed exceptionally well, picking up 23 wickets in four Tests - against Pakistan and New Zealand - whereas Mendis has only picked up eight wickets in his last four Tests.

Mendis was in fact dropped for the last Test against New Zealand as Sri Lanka favoured the left-arm-spin of Herath to partner Muralitharan, but when Sangakkara decides on the playing 11, what might give Mendis the edge is the aura he has against the Indians, having completely bamboozled them with a world record 26 wickets in his debut series.

"If Rangana misses out, it’ll be very disappointing for him. He has out bowled the other two spinners in the last two series," Sangakkara conceded.

Zaheer Khan returns to the Indian side after injury and will share the new ball with either Ishant Sharma or S. Sreeshanth.

All the focus however, ahead of the game has been on star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who completed 20 years as an international cricketer, on Sunday.

The venue, named after India’s first Home Minister - Sardar Patel - has been the location for some historic moments in Indian cricket. It was here that Sunil Gavaskar became the first man to score 10,000 runs in Tests and a few years later, another Indian legend - Kapil Dev, claimed his 432nd victim to break the world record for most wickets in Tests, surpassing Sir Richard Hadlee.

The venue that can host 48,000 spectators, however, is not the most preferred destination for cricket teams and spectators. The dust and the pollution in the city, the concrete structures of the ground, along with Gujarat’s ban on liquor, has not made it the most popular destination for tourists.

Popular cricket writer Scyld Berry, three years ago described the venue in this manner, "without doubt, it is the most unpopular venue in the intenational cricket circuit. The stadium has been run down for years, the state of Gujarat is ‘dry’, the city is as polluted as they come, the river Sabarmati, an open drain."

Nine Tests have been played at the venue, with Sri Lanka being involved in two of those games and in both instances, they lost heavily.

The last Test played here was won by South Africa inside three days, when India were bowled out for 76 runs in the first innings.

Sri Lanka (Probable XI):

Tharanga Paranavithana, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (Captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene (wicketkeeper), Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Rangana Herath or Ajantha Mendis.

India (Probable XI):

Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, M.S. Dhoni (Captain and wicketkeeper), Harbhajan Singh, Amith Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma or S. Sreeshanth.

Umpires: Tony Hill (NZ) and Darrel Harper (Aus)