10 August,2026 03:27 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Sarfaraz Khan (Pic: X/@BCCI)
Team India is set to clash against Sri Lanka in the two-match Test series. The first match is scheduled to be played from August 15 at the Galle International Cricket Stadium near Galle Fort.
A few days before he was recalled to India's Test squad, Sarfaraz Khan wrote on his official social media handle that, "I may not fit in, but I'll fight with everything I've got".
An injury to Sai Sudharsan opened the window of opportunity for Sarfaraz. The Mumbai-born cricketer has reduced 17kg of his weight. The comeback will be one to savour, as earlier he was dropped after four failures against New Zealand in 2024.
After the conclusion of IPL 2026, Sarfaraz featured in the Mumbai T20 League, in which he delivered stunning knocks for Akash Tigers Western Mumbai Suburbs.
He also did skills training on an astro turf wicket at the MCA Indoor facility at BKC and rented private facilities around Kurla where he batted for hours on used and under-prepared red-soil tracks to keep his game top-notch against slow bowlers.
Now that he has managed to fit in, India would need him to fight the good fight against Prabath Jayasuriya and company this weekend.
The visitors are grappling with multiple injury concerns ahead of the series, with Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy sidelined due to hamstring and quadriceps injuries, respectively.
Also, Madhya Pradesh's veteran off-spinner Saransh Jain has received a maiden call-up due to Washington Sundar's unavailability for the first Test match. Sundar is undergoing rehabilitation for a hamstring injury. Jain has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket. According to several media reports, he was in contention for the series.
Meanwhile, Team India has included Aquib Nabi in the squad as Jasprit Bumrah's replacement.
Also, veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will mark his comeback after recovering from a tennis elbow injury suffered during the concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.
Shubman Gill (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain, Auqib Nabi, Sarfaraz Khan.
(With PTI Inputs)
