Jasprit Bumrah was named in the squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka, but recent reports suggest that he has been advised against travelling to the island nation.
Jasprit Bumrah uncertain for Sri Lanka Tests
As per reports in Cricinfo and The Times of India, Bumrah has been advised against rushing back to action after an injury to his left knee has kept him on the sidelines since mid-July. He did not play a part in the third ODI against England at Lord’s, with BCCI reasoning an impact injury while fielding in the second ODI in Cardiff.
Currently at the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru, Bumrah has been reported to experience some discomfort in his left knee after an initial assessment. The BCCI medical team has therefore advised him against travelling to Sri Lanka, aiming for a complete recovery.
“There have been instances in the past where players have been rushed back to cricket and have broken down. You can’t take that risk again. Especially with Bumrah. So complete recovery is the only goal and there is a lot of cricket left in the year. There is [are] Asian Games, the tour of New Zealand and even the Border-Gavaskar Trophy early next year”, said a reliable source, as per the Times of India.
The Indian team will play a three-day practice match in Colombo starting August 7. The first Test is scheduled to commence on August 15 in Galle with the second Test to be played in SSC, Colombo from August 23. This Test series in Sri Lanka is India’s first in the 2025-2027 World Test Championship cycle since their 2-0 home defeat against South Africa last year.
Injuries piling up: Who will replace Bumrah?
India have had recent injury woes. The unavailability of Bumrah in the third ODI at Lord’s cost them dearly as England soared to 387-3-. Captain Shubman Gill voiced his opinions after the ODI series on the frequent injuries in the Indian setup: “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 per cent 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.”
India are already travelling without Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy, who are out with hamstring and quadriceps injuries respectively. They will also miss the services of Washington Sundar for the first Test. With Bumrah unable to travel to Sri Lanka, Auqib Nabi is perhaps the frontrunner to receive a call-up to the side.
Nabi was part of the training setup in India’s one-off Test against Afghanistan and toured Sri Lanka with India A last month, where he picked six wickets across two fixtures. Consistent performances in the domestic circuit for Jammu & Kashmir make him one of the leading contenders to break into India’s XI.
India squad for Tests against Sri Lanka
Shubman Gill (c), KL Rahul (vc), Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Sai Sudharsan (subject to fitness clearance), Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain. Jasprit Bumrah is reportedly ruled out.
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