PROBABLE TEAMS
But for Stuart Broad that could mean the opposite if, as expected, he is dropped for the first time in a decade and Sam Curran comes in.
Root is not totally settled on his final XI ahead of tomorrow’s pre-dawn start, with decisions to be made over his No.3, his wicketkeeper and the seam bowler who will partner James Anderson.
But he is adamant something has to change to bring about success abroad.
And on a pitch that will certainly help spin more than seam, the skipper is unafraid to ask his 123-Test veteran to stand down.
“We have done things in a certain way the last three or four times we have come to the subcontinent and it hasn’t worked,” said Root. “We have to be bold.
“We have to try things slightly differently. We have to be adventurous, show a bit of courage, come here and maybe take the odd risk that we haven’t done before if we are going to give ourselves a good chance of winning.
“I am not scared of doing that. This group of players are not scared of doing that. We are not scared of the surfaces and we are not scared of it spinning.
Karunaratne, Silva, Mendis, Chandimal (c), Mathews, Dhananjaya, Dickwella (wk), Perera, Lakmal, Dananjaya, Herath
Jennings, Burns, Moeen, Root (c), Stokes, Buttler, Foakes (wk), Curran, Rashid, Leach, Anderson