Another milestone for Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar is the most capped player in Test history (Getty Images)

Sri Lanka had reached 102 for two by lunch on the opening morning of the third Test in Colombo, on a day which saw Sachin Tendulkar become the most capped player in Test history.

Tharanga Paranavitana fell early on and Tillakaratne Dilshan was run out the last ball before lunch after India lost the toss for the third straight time and were made to field first.

Tendulkar, meanwhile, turned out for his 169th Test, passing the mark of former Australia captain Steve Waugh to add to his plethora of records including most Test centuries (48) and most Test runs (13,742).

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra replaced the injured Harbhajan Singh in the India line-up while Raina, who scored a century on debut in the second Test, kept his place ahead of Yuvraj Singh.

For Sri Lanka, Lasith Malinga and left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegedara came in for Dammika Prasad and Dilhara Fernando while off-spinner Suraj Randiv, who made his debut in the previous game, retained his place.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara and Dilshan shared a partnership of 87 runs after the loss of the first wicket in the fourth over of the day.

Sangakkara remained unbeaten at 48 while Dilshan perished in a bizarre way after being run out off a no-ball following a stroke-filled 41.

India struck early with Ishant Sharma claiming Paranavitana from the last ball of his second over, the left-hander edging to wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for eight.

Both Sharma and Abhimanyu Mithun used the conditions well and troubled the batsmen with their probing off-stump line during the first hour of the morning session.

Sangakkara got a reprieve on 23 when Suresh Raina made a mess of an easy chance at the third slip off a Mithun delivery. It looked a straightforward catch for VVS Laxman at the second slip but Raina, standing at third slip, lunged out in front of him and failed to hold on.

Sangakkara grew in confidence as conditions eased and drove Mithun to back-to-back boundaries in his ninth over as he inched closer to his fifty.

Dilshan's innings came to an end when he was run out by Murali Vijay for 41. The opener pushed the ball to silly point where Vijay stretched out his left hand, stopped the ball and flicked to Dhoni before Dilshan could get back to his crease.