Team India announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming Test tour of Sri Lanka on Tuesday, July 28. The two Asian rivals will face off over two Tests, starting at Galle on August 15.
Amid fitness uncertainties, ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah is included in the squad, subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI COE. India’s recent No. 3, Sai Sudharsan, has also been selected under similar fitness-clearance conditions.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh all-rounder Saransh Jain has earned his maiden Team India call-up for the Sri Lankan series. With his ability to bat and bowl off-spin, the 33-year-old is the ideal like-for-like replacement for Washington Sundar, who is not part of the squad due to a hamstring injury.
Saransh impressed with bat and ball in the recent second India A-Sri Lanka A Test at Galle, the venue for the first Sri Lanka-India Test. He scored a crucial 70* at No.7, and picked up six wickets across the two innings with the ball.
Veteran spin-bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja also returns to the Test side after missing India’s most recent red-ball game at home against Afghanistan.
Ahead of the two-match series, India will play a four-day practice match at Colombo, starting August 7.
Team India squad for the two-match Test series in Sri Lanka
Shubman Gill (c), KL Rahul (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain
Team India find themselves in a precarious position on the WTC 2025-27 table
The two-Test series in Sri Lanka will be crucial to Team India’s chances of finishing in the top two of the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) standings. Shubman Gill’s side are currently fifth on the table with four wins in nine matches, having played half of their six series for this WTC cycle.
They started with an impressive 2-2 drawn series in England and followed that up with an excellent 2-0 home series win over the West Indies. However, disaster struck when they suffered a 0-2 home series whitewash at the hands of South Africa, pushing them back in the WTC standings.
With challenging series in New Zealand and at home against Australia coming up after the Sri Lankan tour to round off their WTC 2025-27 cycle, Team India are in a virtual must-win against the Lankans to harbor hopes of finishing in the top two and qualifying for their third WTC final.
Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran