New Delhi, Jul 31: India have received a major boost ahead of their two-Test series against Sri Lanka, with pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah clearing his fitness assessment and expected to be available for both matches.
Bumrah had suffered an impact injury during the ODI series against England and missed the third match at Lord’s. He was included in the Test squad subject to clearance from the BCCI Centre of Excellence (COE) in Bengaluru.
The fast bowler has now completed the required fitness tests and is expected to lead India’s pace attack during the Sri Lanka tour.
Bumrah’s return comes at an important stage of India’s World Test Championship (WTC) campaign. Led by Shubman Gill, India are currently placed fifth in the standings and will be looking for a strong performance against Sri Lanka to remain in contention for a place in the 2027 WTC final.
India are scheduled to play nine more Tests in the current cycle and will need to secure victories in most of the remaining matches to strengthen their chances of qualifying for the final.
The team’s preparations have been affected by injuries to several players. Fast bowler Harshit Rana has been ruled out with a hamstring injury, while all-rounder Nitish Reddy is recovering from a quadriceps problem.
Washington Sundar will miss the opening Test due to a hamstring injury. Off-spin all-rounder Saransh Jain has been included in the squad following strong performances in domestic cricket and for India A.
Pacer Akash Deep is also unavailable as he continues to recover from a back-related stress injury.
Bumrah and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja return to the Test side after being rested for the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June. The match was not part of the World Test Championship.
Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar are the other pace-bowling options in the squad. Brar has earned his maiden Test call-up after an impressive performance for India A against Sri Lanka A in Galle, where he claimed 10 wickets.
The first Test will be played in Galle from August 15, while the second match is scheduled to begin in Colombo on August 23.
India will aim for a strong start to a crucial phase of their WTC campaign, with Bumrah’s return expected to provide greater strength and experience to the bowling unit.
Indian Players: Shubman Gill (Captain), Lokesh Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal and Saransh Jain.
