India Test squad hit by injury crisis ahead of Sri Lanka tour; Bumrah, Sundar face fitness race

MUMBAI: The selection of India's Test squad for the two-Test tour of Sri Lanka in Aug has been hit by plenty of injury concerns and fitness issues to several key players, TOI has reliably learnt. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia had told TOI on Saturday that the national selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, will announce the squad for the Test tour by Tuesday. The first Test of the series will be held in Galle from Aug 15-19, while the second Test will take place at the SSC in Colombo from Aug 23-27. According to sources in the BCCI, in a big blow for India considering that there are likely to be spin-friendly pitches on both the Tests, off-spinning allrounder Washington Sundar is unavailable for the first Test due to a right hamstring injury. His availability for the second Test subject to fitness. Sundar had been ruled out of the third and final ODI at Lord's in England on July 19 and replaced by left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey after suffering the injury during the second ODI at Cardiff. In another big worry, ace fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who too was ruled out of the third ODI in England after he sustained an impact injury to his left knee while fielding during the second ODI against England in Cardiff, is likely to be picked under the "subject to fitness" clause. Bumrah has been asked 'take rest until July 30, after which he will report to the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. India's Test No 3 Sai Sudharsan too is likely to be picked under the 'Subject to fitness' clause, though he is learnt to be "recovering well." Sudharsan's availability for the series is crucial considering that he has been in good form in the last few months. The Tamil Nadu & Gujarat Titans left-hander scored centuries (132 & 168) in both the four-day games for India A against Sri Lanka in their 'shadow tour' of Lanka recently, and slammed 81 against Afghanistan in the one-off Test in June in New Chandigarh. The nature of his injury is not known yet. The ‘casualty ward’ doesn’t end there. Pace bowling allrounders Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy are unavailable for the tour after having failed to recover from their injuries so far. Rana had been ruled out of the ODI series against England due to a Grade 1 biceps femoris muscle strain (hamstring injury). The setback followed his recent return from a major right knee ligament strain and surgery that sidelined him for four months, causing him to miss the 2026 T20 World Cup and IPL-2026. Meanwhile, Reddy is still recovering from a left quadriceps injury, which caused him to miss India's recent white-ball tours of Ireland, England and Zimbabwe. He picked up the injury while bowling against Afghanistan in the home ODI series in June, a. On Saturday, fast bowler Prince Yadav became the latest India player to suffer an injury, walking off midway through an over after clutching his left hamstring during the second T20I against Zimbabwe in Harare. Star allrounder Hardik Pandya is still recovering from back spasms and quadriceps strain. Test fast bowler Akash missed the entire IPL-2026 after suffering a recurrence of a lower-back stress reaction. He was initially expected to be sidelined for eight to 12 weeks before undergoing a three-month recovery programme in Bengaluru. After losing the ODI series 2-1 in England, India captain Shubman Gill had said the team cannot afford to have players getting injured every few matches if they want to stay a strong contender at the 2027 ODI World Cup. "If you look at the first squad we had announced [for the England ODI series], from that minimum five players did not play this match. If one player is injured you look at playing another combination, two players are injured you look at playing another combination, but if after every match some player is missing then somewhere we are missing a trick," he had said. "If you keep the World Cup as the goal where we have to play 11 matches in a row and here we have players not being able to finish a two-to-three-match series. So there is some limitation where our players are not being able to play continuously, they play one or two matches, they suffer a niggle and then we are forced to play a different combination which we originally did not plan to play. So, keeping all this mind it becomes a little difficult that you come to the ground on the morning and you come to know a player has a niggle, then it's almost like do you want to take a chance? Some player is 80% fit, you are playing with five bowlers and if this player comes out after bowling five overs, then who will bowl? This is difficult. So as a group we need improved our fitness and all those things." Player Availability Status Fitness/Update Washington Sundar Unavailable for 1st Test Availability for the 2nd Test depends on fitness. Jasprit Bumrah Subject to fitness Will rest until 30 July , after which he will report to the Centre of Excellence (COE) for assessment. Sai Sudharsan Subject to fitness Recovering well and being monitored. Harshit Rana Unavailable Ruled out of selection. Nitish Kumar Reddy Unavailable Ruled out of selection.

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