MUMBAI: Right-arm pacer Auqib Nabi has replaced injured Jasprit Bumrah in India’s squad for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.
The two-Test series will begin in Galle on 15 August, followed by a second fixture on 23 August in Colombo.
This will be India’s first World Cup Test Championship (WTC) series since their 2-0 defeat to South Africa at home in 2025.
Auqib, a tall right-arm pacer, has earned his maiden national call-up after impressing in domestic cricket. The pacer hailing from Jammu and Kashmir topped the wicket-taking charts in the past two seasons of India’s premier first-class competition, the Ranji Trophy.
The 29-year-old was also instrumental in Jammu and Kashmir’s historic Ranji Trophy triumph, in which he collected 60 wickets in 17 innings. Due to his outstanding performances, he was named the player of the tournament.
He also represented India A against Sri Lanka A on the recently concluded tour of Sri Lanka, claiming six wickets in two four-day games.
If Auqib makes his debut in the upcoming series, he will become the first Test cricketer from Jammu to play for India.
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Overall, he has picked 162 wickets in 43 first-class matches at an impressive average of 18.63, including four 10-wicket hauls and 16 five-wicket hauls.
Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the series due to the left knee injury he sustained during the ODI series against England. He was initially named in India’s squad but failed to recover in time, ultimately missing the Test series.
Bumrah’s workload had been carefully managed since the back injury he suffered during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. He also played ODI cricket for the first time against England since the World Cup 2023 final.
Updated India squad for Sri Lanka Tests:
Shubman Gill (c), KL Rahul (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (wk), B Sai Sudharsan* , Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Auqib Nabi, Devdutt Padikkal and Saransh Jain.
* Subject to fitness clearance.
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