New Delhi — Jammu and Kashmir pace bowler Aqib Nabi, 29, has been drafted into India’s Test squad for the upcoming two-match series in Sri Lanka after veteran fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out with a knee injury. India begin their series with a three-day warm-up match from August 7, before the first Test gets underway in Galle on August 15.
The call-up marks Nabi’s first selection for the Indian Test team. Should he get a game in the series, he would become the first cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to represent India in Test cricket. Nabi played a key role in Jammu and Kashmir’s maiden Ranji Trophy triumph, and more recently impressed on a tour of Sri Lanka, picking up six wickets in two matches for India A against Sri Lanka A — including a four-wicket haul in one innings.
Even so, cracking India’s playing eleven won’t be straightforward for Nabi. With Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar already part of the Test setup, competition for the fast-bowling slots is stiff, and a place in the starting XI looks like a tough ask for now.
Bumrah’s absence comes as a significant blow to India’s pace attack for the series, especially with Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy and off-spin all-rounder Washington Sundar already sidelined and working their way back from injury. Bumrah remains central to India’s plans for next year’s ICC ODI World Cup, and the team management is understandably keen not to take any chances with his fitness. In fact, it became clear he would miss this series the moment the squad, led by Shubman Gill, departed for Sri Lanka without him. On a brighter note for India, Sai Sudharsan has recovered well from his own injury and is expected to be close to full fitness in time for the first Test.
India’s squad for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka: Shubman Gill (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), B Sai Sudharsan*, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Aqib Nabi, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain.
*Subject to full fitness.
Nabi enters the squad on the back of a stellar domestic season, having taken 60 wickets in 2025-26 to help Jammu and Kashmir lift their first Ranji Trophy title — part of a haul of 104 wickets across two Ranji seasons.
As for Bumrah, his fitness troubles have persisted through much of the past year. He played just three of five Tests during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour of England after a back injury, then returned only for two of three ODIs before a knee issue forced him out again. He was subsequently named in India’s squad for the Sri Lanka Test series on the condition that he would play only once fully fit. However, an assessment at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru found his knee had not fully healed, ruling him out of the tour altogether.
