The Indian cricket team Friday celebrated Independence day with skipper MS Dhoni raising the tri-colour in Colombo.

The event was marked by the singing of the National Anthem and a brief address by Dhoni.

The cricketers joined the celebrations just before the commencement of the one-day warm up game against Sri Lanka Invitation XI at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium.

This was the venue where the third cricket Test between India and Sri Lanka was held.

"While joining the independence celebrations with the people of India, we remember all those who made sacrifices during the freedom struggles," Dhoni said.

"I remember there used to be flag hoisting in my school. I attended the function for 14 years from nursery to class XII. We used to celebrate that, we also used to get a box of sweets," he added.

The Indians, who lost the just-concluded Test series 1-2, began their first outing of the shorter version of the game in the Island country by winning the toss and electing to bat.