In a major setback for the Indian team, star bowler Jasprit Bumrah has reportedly been ruled out of the forthcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.
Notably, the Indian side, under the captaincy of Shubman Gill and his deputy, KL Rahul, will tour the neighbouring nation for a two-game Test series. While the series will take place from August 15 to August 27 at Galle and Colombo, both teams will engage in a three-day warm-up match beginning on August 7.
One of the major highlights of the squad set to travel to Sri Lanka was the return of Jasprit Bumrah. The speedster sustained an impact injury during the recently-concluded series against England and was forced to miss the third ODI. While his appearance was initially subjected to clearance, a later BCCI source confirmed that he cleared his fitness test mandated by the CoE.
Jasprit Bumrah to Not Appear in Sri Lanka Test Series: Report
However, in a recent development, Bumrah has been ruled out of the series, as per media reports. A report from Sahil Malhotra of TOI suggests that he continues to feel discomfort in his left knee after an initial assessment at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE). Hence, it has been decided that it is not safe to push the seamer back in action and has advised him full recovery. Notably, a report earlier this week stated that the BCCI medical team advised Bumrah to get an injection for the knee issue that surfaced during the T20 World Cup 2026.
Though he was given the injection last month, its recovery may take longer than initially anticipated. It has also been reported that there were discussions of including him in the second Test in Colombo, but the medical team is not willing to take any chances.
“There have been instances in the past where players have been rushed back to cricket, and have broken down. You can’t take that risk again. Especially with Bumrah. So complete recovery is the only goal and there is lot of cricket left in the year. There is Asian Games, the tour of New Zealand and even the Border-Gavaskar Trophy early next year,” the TOI quoted a source as saying.
Furthermore, Auqib Nabi is the front-runner to replace Bumrah in the squad as he trained with the team before the one-off Test against Afghanistan and toured Sri Lanka with the India A team last month.