MUMBAI: India’s Test team selection for the two-Test tour of Sri Lanka in August has been hit by multiple injury problems 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, headed by Ajit Agarkar, would announce the squad for the Test tour from Tuesday.The first Test of the series will be held in Galle from August 15 to 19, while the second Test will take place at the SSC in Colombo from August 23 to 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 Tests, off-spinning allrounder Washington Sundar is not available for the first Test because of a right hamstring injury.
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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 he suffered the injury during the second ODI in Cardiff. In another major concern, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who has also been ruled out of the third ODI in England after sustaining 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 to rest till July 30, after which he has to report to the BCCI’s Center of Excellence in Bengaluru.India’s Test No 3 Sai Sudharsan is also likely to be selected under the ‘Subject to fitness’ clause, although he is learned to ‘recover 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 four-day matches for India A against Sri Lanka on their recent ‘shadow tour’ of Lanka, and smashed 81 against Afghanistan in the one-off Test in June at New Chandigarh. The nature of his injury is not yet known. The “victims room” does not end there. Pace bowling allrounders Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy are unavailable for the tour after failing 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 clash followed his recent comeback 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 made him miss India’s recent white-ball tours of Ireland, England and Zimbabwe. I picked up the injury while bowling against Afghanistan in the home ODI series in June, a.Fast bowler Prince Yadav on Saturday became the latest Indian player to suffer an injury, walking off in the middle of an over after clutching his left hamstring during the second T20I against Zimbabwe in Harare. Star allrounder Hardik Pandya is still recovering from shoulder spasms and quadriceps strain. Test fast bowler Akash has missed the entire IPL-2026 after suffering a recurrence of a stress reaction in the lower back. He was initially expected to be sidelined for eight to 12 weeks before undergoing a three-month recovery program in Bengaluru.After losing the ODI series 2-1 in England, India captain Shubman Gill had said that the team cannot afford to have injured players every few matches if they want to be a strong contender in the 2027 ODI World Cup. “If you look at the first team we announced [for the England ODI series]from that minimum five players did not play this match. If one player is injured, look at playing another combination, two players are injured, look at playing another combination, but if after every match one player is missing then somewhere there is a trick missing,” he had said.“If we keep the World Cup as the goal where we have to play 11 games in a row and here we have players who cannot finish a series of two to three games. So there is a limitation where our players cannot play continuously, they play one or two games, suffer a niggle and then we are forced to play a different plan, we do not keep an original plan to play. difficult that you come to the ground in the morning and you come to know that a player has a niggle, so it’s almost like you want to take a chance Some player is 80% fit, you are playing with five bowlers and if this player gets out after bowling five overs, then who? So as a group we need to improve our fitness and all these things.”
| Player | Availability status | Fitness / upgrade |
|---|---|---|
| Washington Sundar | Unavailable for the 1st test | Availability for the 2nd Test depends on fitness. |
| Jasprit Bumrah | Subject to fitness | It will remain until July 30after that he will report to the Center of Excellence (COE) for evaluation. |
| You know Sudharsan | Subject to fitness | Recover well and be monitored. |
| Harshit Rana | Unavailable | Excluded from selection. |
| Nitish Kumar Reddy | Unavailable | Excluded from selection. |