Uncapped offspinning all-rounder Saransh Jain has earned a maiden Test call-up to India’s squad for the upcoming two-match series in Sri Lanka in August. Saransh has been selected on the back of a hamstring injury to Washington Sundar, who has been officially ruled out of the first Test. Saransh could be in for a Test cap at the age of 33 following consistent performances for Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket and India ‘A’.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is also back in the fold after being rested for the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June. The rest of the 15-man squad wears a familiar look, with Jasprit Bumrah back to spearhead the attack. Bumrah and incumbent No.3 batter Sai Sudharsan, however, have been picked subject to fitness clearance, while Nitish Kumar Reddy, who is one of many players rehabbing currently at the CoE is not part of the squad.
India squad for Sri Lanka Tests: Shubman Gill (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Sai Sudharsan*, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Jasprit Bumrah*, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain
*subject to fitness clearance
Saransh’s callup comes on the back of a remarkable late surge in red-ball cricket, having established himself as a key member of Madhya Pradesh’s squad to springboard himself into the selectors’ radar. He has featured in 54 first-class fixtures for 188 wickets at 27.3 apiece with his offspin. A useful left-handed batter down the order, he has also scored 2223 runs at an average of 31.75, striking 14 half-centuries and two hundreds along the way. His 16 wickets and 136 runs across two games helped Central Zone clinch the Duleep Trophy title last September, before he backed it up with 518 runs at an average of 57.55 and 30 wickets at 20.43 apiece in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season.
Saransh was part of the India ‘A’ XI in both unofficial Tests on the recent tour of Sri Lanka, returning seven wickets and chipping in with an unbeaten 70 in the second game batting at No. 7.
Among notable absentees are Nitish, Sundar and Vidarbha all-rounder Harsh Dubey, who were all part of the squad for the Afghanistan Test. But while Sundar has not been named in the squad, the BCCI stated that he has been ruled out of the first Test without any specific mention of his potential availability for the second Test. Bumrah suffered an impact injury on his left knee during India’s recent tour of England that ruled him out of the deciding ODI at Lord’s. He was rested from the squad for the Afghanistan Test following an ordinary IPL campaign where his Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene revealed that he played through the early part of the tournament with a niggle.
Sudharsan, who head coach Gautam Gambhir threw his weight behind for a long rope ahead of the Afghanistan Test, is also awaiting fitness clearance from the CoE. While the specifics of his injury are unclear, the left-hander retired hurt on 7 in the second innings of the first unofficial Test against Sri Lanka ‘A’ last month and did not return to bat. He did play the second game though, scoring 168 and an unbeaten 25, having already struck 132 in the first innings of the first game at Galle, the venue for the first Test of the upcoming series.
Manav Suthar, who starred with seven wickets on Test debut against Afghanistan before bagging a short County gig with Warwickshire, has been retained in the squad. Suthar could potentially be involved in a three-way shootout with Saransh and Kuldeep Yadav for two spots in the XI should India opt for a three-man spin attack.
Besides Bumrah, the pace attack includes Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar. The latter took a ten-fer in the second unofficial Test for India ‘A’ earlier this month in Galle.
The batting lineup retains a familiar look, with Devdutt Padikkal picked as the spare batter and Dhruv Jurel as the second wicketkeeper to Rishabh Pant. KL Rahul remains the vice-captain under Shubman Gill, having replaced Pant in the role against Afghanistan.
The two-Test series beginning August 15 marks India’s first tour of Sri Lanka in the format in nine years, having completed a 3-0 sweep in 2017. While Galle will host the first Test, Colombo’s Sinhalese Sports Club is the venue for the second game beginning August 23.
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