New Delhi: India’s senior men’s selection committee, chaired by Ajit Agarkar, on Tuesday announced the 15-member squad for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka starting from August 15 in Galle. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja returns after being rested in the one-off Test against Afghanistan, while off-spinner Saransh Jain gets his maiden call-up to the national team. Meanwhile, Washington Sundar remains unavailable for the first Test. Injury concerns remain, with both Sai Sudharsan and Jasprit Bumrah needing to clear their fitness before being drafted BCCI Center of Excellence (CoE). Otherwise, the team is largely on the expected course, with the core batting group being retained. The pace attack features familiar names like Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Bumrah and Gurnoor Brar, who retained his place with a stellar performance against Sri Lanka A.In the spin department, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav are expected to lead the attack along with Manav Suthar and Saransh Jain. Souttar impressed on his debut against Afghanistan while Jain was chosen as the specialist off-spinner in the absence of Washington Sundar.The 33-year-old has featured in 54 First Division games and has been on the selectors’ radar for a long time. They also gave him a chance with India A during the recent tour of Sri Lanka, where he took six wickets and scored an unbeaten 70 in the last game.TimesofIndia.com understands that the selectors are not willing to take any fitness-related risks for the series and Sudharsan and Bumrah will only play if they meet all the fitness benchmarks of the CoE. It is understood that Bumrah is expected to be fit for the first Test in Galle but the think tank will not rush him back into the squad if there is even the slightest doubt about his fitness.India are expected to arrive in Sri Lanka early in the first week of August and then start preparations for the four-day warm-up match in Colombo on August 7.
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India’s Test line-up against Sri Lanka: Shubman Gill(C), KL Rahul(VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ritha 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.notes:
- The availability of Sai Sudharsan and Jasprit Bumrah depends on the health clearance from the BCCI CoE.
- Washington Sundar was not selected for the first Test.
