The pitch at the Barabati Stadium, untested for about a year, and former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni attracted maximum attention on the eve of the T20 series opener between India and Sri Lanka here. Dhoni headed straight to the 22-yard strip after dropping his kit bag and examined it minutely from both ends. Moments earlier Rohit Sharma, who is standing in as captain in the absence of Virat Kohli, and coach Ravi Shastri had a close look of the pitch by removing the light green cover, which was in place to protect it from excessive drying. In the only T20I played here on October 5, 2015 India collapsed for 92 to lose to South Africa. But in an ODI exactly 11 months ago, India and England aggregated more than 700 runs, with Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh's centuries helping the team to a narrow win after it notched up up a mammoth 381 for six.

India's MS Dhoni inspects the pitch during a practice session for the inaugural T20 cricket match, in Cuttack on Tuesday. Pic/PTI