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

Sarfaraz Khan has been named as Sai Sudharsan’s replacement for the two-match Test series in Sri Lanka. He is set to link up with the squad before the team travels to Galle for the first Test which starts on August 15.

Sarfaraz has played six Tests for India, with his most recent appearance coming in the 2024 home series against New Zealand. In 11 innings, he has one century and three fifties to his name. The call-up comes on the back of another solid Ranji Trophy season in 2025-26 where he scored 429 runs from nine innings at an average of 53.62.

Updated India squad: Shubman Gill (C), KL Rahul (VC), 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

Sarfaraz was also named in the West Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy (August 23 - September 10), a small part of which will clash with the Sri Lanka Tests (August 7 - 27). He missed the last edition due to injury after initially being named in the squad. Additionally, Sarfaraz hasn’t played professional cricket since turning out for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL in April this year.

With Sudharsan out injured, Devdutt Padikkal appears to be the front-runner to bat at No. 3, particularly after his impressive century in the practice game against SLC XI.

A BCCI statement said that Sudharsan, who is currently at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru after suffering right toe stress reaction, has made significant progress in his recovery.

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