Sarfaraz Khan named Sai Sudharsan's injury replacement for Sri Lanka Tests

Sarfaraz Khan named Sai Sudharsan's injury replacement for Sri Lanka Tests

The BCCI announced on Sunday, that Mumbai's Sarfaraz Khan will join the Indian Test squad for the upcoming two-match series against Sri Lanka. Khan steps in for Sai Sudharsan, who has been ruled out of the series.

Sudharsan's absence follows a right toe stress reaction sustained during the India A tour of Sri Lanka last month. According to a BCCI media release, the left-handed batter has been recovering at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (COE) in Bengaluru. The BCCI stated that Sudharsan has made significant progress in his recovery and that the medical team is closely monitoring his progress.

Sarfaraz Khan, 28, will link up with the Indian team in Colombo. This meeting occurs before the squad travels to Galle for the first Test match, which is scheduled to begin on August 15, 2026.

This call-up follows a strong 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season for Khan, during which he averaged 53.62 and scored 429 runs across nine innings. However, he has not played professional cricket since appearing for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL in April. His last international appearance for India was in November 2024 during a home Test series against New Zealand. Despite scoring 150 in the first Test of that series in Bengaluru, Khan was dropped after India lost the three-match series 0-3.

Khan has played six Tests for India in total, recording one century and three fifties in 11 innings.

The selection comes amid a wider injury crisis for the Indian squad. In addition to Sudharsan, the team is missing pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who is still recovering from a left knee injury suffered during an ODI series against England. The selectors have named Auqib Nabi as Bumrah's replacement.

Other players unavailable for the tour due to injuries include:

• Harshit Rana
• Nitish Kumar Reddy
• Washington Sundar
• Akash Deep

With Sudharsan sidelined, Devdutt Padikkal is considered the primary candidate to bat at No. 3. This follows a performance in the practice game against SLC XI where Padikkal scored a century.

The finalized squad for the series includes captain Shubman Gill, vice-captain K L Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (w/k), Dhruv Jurel (w/k), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain, Auqib Nabi, and Sarfaraz Khan.

Khan's schedule will be tightly packed over the coming weeks. He has also been named in the West Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy, which runs from August 23 to September 10. A portion of that tournament will overlap with the Sri Lanka Test series, which runs from August 7 to August 27. Khan previously missed the last edition of the Duleep Trophy due to injury after being named in the squad.

The series opens in Galle on August 15.