India’s batting order for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka has changed just before the action kicks off. Left-handed opener Sai Sudharsan is out of the tour and the BCCI quickly named Sarfaraz Khan as his replacement.
The board put out the update on Sunday.
Sudharsan has been rehabbing at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, putting in time with both batting and fielding drills. Still, he hadn’t made enough progress to be ready for the first Test in Galle on August 15. He didn’t travel with the team and missed the ongoing three-day warm-up against the Sri Lanka Cricket XI in Colombo, which started last Friday.
And Sudharsan isn’t the only one missing. Jasprit Bumrah is out, too; he still hasn’t recovered from the knee injury he picked up during the England ODI series. Aquib Nabi takes his spot in the squad. The injuries don’t stop there—Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy are sidelined with muscle strains, and Washington Sundar won’t be available for the opening Test because of a hamstring problem. Akash Deep is also unavailable as he works through a back injury.
This Test series is part of the ICC World Test Championship’s 2025-27 cycle. Right now, Shubman Gill leads the side, and India sits fifth in the standings after four wins and four losses in nine matches. Their points percentage stands at 48.15.
The first Test starts August 15 in Galle. With Sudharsan out, the team turns to Sarfaraz Khan to help bolster the middle order as they get ready for their first challenge of the new season.
India’s updated squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka: Shubman Gill (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain, Auqib Nabi, Sarfaraz Khan