…first Test against Sri Lanka starts today
INDIA –(Reuters)- India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has urged his team to readjust quickly to Test cricket in order to maintain their spotless home record against Sri Lanka in the format

India have not played a Test since their tour of New Zealand in April and recently suffered a one-day series defeat to top-ranked Australia earlier this month.

Sri Lanka are aiming for their first Test series win on Indian soil.

The first Test starts at the Motera today.

“We need to shift attention, (having) played a lot of one-day format,” Dhoni said.

“After New Zealand, we are playing a Test match for the first time, so we have to plan a bit differently.”

Sri Lanka, ranked second behind South Africa in the official Test rankings, are playing three Tests, five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 games on their two-month tour.

“Of course, if you defend every Test match, you are defending history,” Dhoni said.

“We are not thinking about the history, we are thinking about the Test match. If we do well in the Test match, it will just add to the history.”

India’s record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar will complete 20 years in international cricket when he takes the field in the opening Test.

Tendulkar, 36, will join a list of 15 players whose international careers have spanned more than two decades.

The Mumbai batsman holds the record for most Test runs (12,773), Test centuries (42), ODI runs (17,178) and ODI centuries (45) and hit a stirring 175 in the ODI series against Australia this month to underline his good form.

“It’s really amazing. I think I am honoured to share the dressing room with him,” Dhoni said of the veteran batsman.

“Not even in my dreams did I think that I would be playing with him, so it is an honour for me. Hopefully, he scores a century.”

India were bundled out for 76 in exactly 20 overs by South Africa in their previous Test at this venue last year.

“It looks very different, that’s for sure,” Dhoni said of the pitch. “That’s what we are predicting and hoping for. It’s not really like the same wicket.

“It can’t get better than this. Sachin completing 20 years and getting a big score in this game.”

Master spinner Muttiah Muralitharan will be playing in his last overseas Test series after having announced his retirement from the format at the end of the 2010 season.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said winning the series would be the perfect ending for Muralitharan, who holds the record for most wickets in both Test and one-day cricket.

“We are trying to convince him to stay on for a few more years,” a hopeful Sangakkara said.

Sangakkara said batsman Tillakaratne Dishan was fit to play in the first Test after recovering from an ankle injury he sustained in practice last week.