Lucknow, Feb 24 (IANS): Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka has won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in the first T20I at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

"We want to back our strength, it was a tough tour of Australia, but we could have won a few more games," said Shanaka after winning the toss. He added that Dinesh Chandimal and Jeffrey Vandersay come in for injured duo of Maheesh Theekshana and Kusal Mendis.

India skipper Rohit Sharma said Sanju Samson, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja come into the playing eleven while Deepak Hooda makes his T20I debut. He added that Ruturaj Gaikwad was unavailable for selection due to a wrist issue.

"We were looking to chase as well, not sure how the pitches in India plays. But we now know we need to bat well, the last time we played here, about 4 years back, the pitch played well. Nothing changes as far as the goals of the team are concerned, need to do the right things as a team, need to keep ticking all the right boxes," stated Sharma.

Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) gave an update on Gaikwad's wrist issue. "Ruturaj Gaikwad complained of pain in his right wrist, which is affecting his batting. He was unavailable for selection for the first T20I. The BCCI Medical Team is examining him."

Playing XIs

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Charith Asalanka, Dinesh Chandimal (wicket-keeper), Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka (captain), Chamika Karunaratne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara