Uncapped all-rounder Saransh Jain received his maiden India Test call-up after he replaced the injured Washington Sundar for the upcoming two-match series against Sri Lanka.
The BCCI announced the India squad for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka on Tuesday. The board said that Sundar won’t be available for selection due to an injury he sustained during the second ODI against England in Cardiff earlier in July.
The first Test between Sri Lanka and India will take place at the Galle International Cricket Stadium from 15 August. The Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Colombo will host the second Test from 23 August.
Who is Saransh Jain?
Saransh Jain was born on 31 March 1993 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Saransh made his first-class debut for Madhya Pradesh during the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy season and gradually established himself as one of the team’s most dependable cricketers.
Primarily a bowling all-rounder, he bowls right-arm off-spin while batting left-handed, giving his side valuable balance across formats. He later made his List A debut in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and has also featured in domestic T20 competitions.
His biggest impact has come in red-ball cricket. Time and again, he has delivered match-winning spells for Madhya Pradesh and has taken 188 wickets from 54 First-Class matches, while also contributing crucial runs lower down the order.
The 33-year-old has aggregated 2,223 runs from 54 First-Class matches at an average of 31.75. He has scored 14 half-centuries and two centuries.
The 2025-26 domestic season further enhanced his reputation. Saransh played a leading role in Madhya Pradesh’s Ranji Trophy campaign, scoring 518 runs and taking 30 wickets from seven matches.
His consistency eventually earned him a place in the India A squad for the unofficial Test series against Sri Lanka A, where he continued to impress with the ball, taking seven wickets from two matches. This included a four-wicket haul in the first innings of the second unofficial Test.
Saransh Jain’s personal struggles
Life has not always been smooth for Jain. Jain’s father, Subodh Jain, a former Ranji Trophy player for Madhya Pradesh, coached him at a young age and introduced him to competitive cricket.
In 2014, when Jain was on a Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association exposure tour to Australia, his father was diagnosed with mouth cancer. The family deliberately kept the diagnosis from him so that he could focus on his cricket.
Once he returned home from the tour, he found out that his father had undergone surgery and chemotherapy.
Subodh Jain, who temporarily lost the ability to speak, reportedly wrote his son a note saying: “Just focus on your game, I will get well soon.” Saransh has often described that note as one of the biggest motivations of his career.
Jain’s brother, too, used to play cricket but later dropped out. “Firstly, I would like to mention that I come from a cricketing family. My father played Ranji for MP. My elder brother also played, and I used to go to the club for training in my initial days alongside bhaiya. Unfortunately, he had to drop his plans of playing, but I continued working on my game,” Jain told Crictracker in October 2025.