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The India National Cricket Team named the replacement for Sai Sudharsan on Sunday. They announced Sarfaraz Khan as the replacement for the Southpaw, who has been ruled out of the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, with the first Test scheduled to take place from August 15 at the Galle International Stadium. Sarfaraz Khan will join the squad ahead of the first game.
Sai Sudharsan was ruled out as he failed to recover in time for the two-match Test series. Despite being named to the squad, his participation was entirely dependent on his fitness. He has been at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (COE) in Bengaluru and has been progressing well in his recovery from the right toe injury.
Ruturaj Gaikwad overlooked yet again
However, in terms of selection, there has been a report that, apart from Sarfaraz, there was another name that was suggested to the Men’s Selection Committee: Ruturaj Gaikwad. It is believed that Gambhir's team management suggested Gaikwad’s name to the selectors, but they went ahead with the Mumbai-based batter for this series, as per Sports Tak journalist Nitin.
🚨 BREAKING: According to Nitin Srivastav, team management had shortlisted both Sarfaraz Khan and Ruturaj Gaikwad as options to replace Sai Sudharsan. However, the selectors have gone ahead with Sarfaraz Khan as the replacement. pic.twitter.com/jUqP8d6NWM
— Arav (@context313) August 9, 2026
Ruturaj Gaikwad has been a name in the Indian cricket circuit who has performed in the white-ball format whenever given chances. However, he has not been played for India in the traditional format of the game. Despite having a stellar first-class record with an average of 40, he is yet to get selected in the Indian Test team.
When did Sarfaraz Khan last play for India?
Sarfaraz Khan makes a comeback to the squad after over a year. The 28-year-old Mumbai batter last played a Test match in November 2024 against the New Zealand National Cricket Team. Sarfaraz Khan was named in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2024/25 but did not play a single game in Australia. In his last Test match, he scored just one run in both innings.
Interestingly, in the Test series against the Kiwis, Sarfaraz Khan scored a brilliant 150 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Despite his good performances, he was not selected for the England tour and following that. This is a good opportunity for the middle-order batter if he gets a chance, as he is an excellent player of spin and has a fantastic domestic record.
India wins warm-up game, but bowlers struggled
Coming to the squad, Shubman Gill, the captain, has a big headache with the team India captain missing out on his premier fast bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, who has also been ruled out of the series. Bumrah, who made a comeback in ODIs after 968 days, was injured in the ODI series against England and still has not recovered.
India has a long list of injured players who have been doing their rehab at the CoE. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar were already ruled out of the Test series as they were not even named in the 15-man squad for the Test series.
India won the warm-up game despite being on the back foot on the first day. The batters did the job in the warm-up game, with Devdutt Padikkal securing a hundred and also the place inside the XI and will possibly bat at No. 3, with him being the like-for-like replacement for Sai Sudharsan.
