India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and veteran spin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja are back in the Test fold for the first time since November 2025. The national selectors named the 15-man squad for the two-match tour of Sri Lanka on Monday. The series starts on August 15.

Bumrah’s availability depends on fitness clearance after he picked up an injury during the recent three-match ODI series in England. Jadeja, 37, had been out of action since suffering a tennis elbow injury during the IPL 2026 season in May.

Jadeja to lead a three-pronged spin attack

Jaddu will anchor the spin attack alongside wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and young left-arm spinner Manav Suthar. Moreover, his experience will be crucial for Shubman Gill’s side as they look to revive their World Test Championship final hopes. This comes after a rough home season last year, which included a landmark 0-2 series defeat to South Africa. It also included India’s heaviest-ever Test loss, a 408-run defeat in the second Test in Guwahati.

Saransh Jain earns his maiden call-up

Off-spinner Washington Sundar was ruled out of the first Test after a hamstring injury picked up during India’s recent England tour. In his place, Madhya Pradesh all-rounder Saransh Jain has been handed his first India call-up.

The 33-year-old impressed on India A’s recent tour of Sri Lanka, scoring an unbeaten 70 and picking up six wickets in the second unofficial Test. Across his first-class career, Jain has taken 188 wickets and scored over 2,200 runs. Importantly, this includes two centuries. These numbers made him hard to overlook once Sundar was sidelined.

Sai Sudharsan has also been included in the squad, but his place too remains subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI’s medical team.

India’s last red-ball assignment came against Afghanistan in New Chandigarh last month, played outside the WTC schedule. Gill’s side won that contest by an innings and 300 runs inside three days. This was their biggest-ever Test win by an innings margin.

Before the Sri Lanka series gets underway, India will play a four-day practice match in Colombo starting August 7. This match will help fine-tune combinations and form.

Where India stand in the WTC cycle

India currently sit fifth in the WTC standings, having won just four of their nine Tests so far this cycle. The Sri Lanka assignment marks the start of a heavy stretch, with nine more Tests scheduled through March 2027.

History is on India’s side heading into the tour. They have remained unbeaten in Sri Lanka since 2010. Notably, their last Test tour of the island in 2017 ended in a 3-0 whitewash.

India squad for Sri Lanka Tests

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.

*Subject to fitness clearance

India tour of Sri Lanka 2026: Test schedule

1st Test: August 15-19, 2026, Galle International Stadium, Galle

2nd Test: August 23-27, 2026, Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo

With Bumrah and Sudharsan’s places still hinging on medical clearance, the fitness updates over the next fortnight will matter as much as the squad announcement itself. Meanwhile, Jain’s ability to translate strong domestic and India A form into Test cricket, on spin-friendly Sri Lankan surfaces, could go a long way toward deciding how India balance their attack once the series gets underway.

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