India’s Hopes Dashed Regarding Sudharsan

India had hoped to have Sai Sudharsan available from the beginning of their tour of Sri Lanka, but that expectation has been dashed as he failed to recover from an injury. According to cricket website ESPNcricinfo, the left-handed batsman has been completely ruled out of the Test series.

The 24-year-old, who has played seven Tests so far, is battling to recover from a stress fracture in his toe. Nevertheless, India included him and Jasprit Bumrah in their 15-member squad for the Sri Lanka tour, subject to passing fitness tests. Bumrah was ruled out last week after failing to overcome a knee issue, with Jammu & Kashmir paceman Auqib Nabi named as his replacement.

Like Bumrah, Sudharsan did not travel with the team to Sri Lanka and has been working on his recovery at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence.

It is understood that Sudharsan suffered the toe stress fracture recently. He checked into the Centre of Excellence shortly after returning home from India 'A' tour of Sri Lanka in July, where he posted scores of 132, 7*, 168, and 25* across four innings.

When selecting him for the Test squad, the selectors were hopeful that Sudharsan would recover before the first Test. However, he is still unable to run at full speed, forcing him out of the tour altogether.

The first Test of the series begins this Saturday in Galle.

There are also concerns surrounding India's Test captain Shubman Gill, who sustained a injury to the ring finger of his right hand during a practice session in Colombo. As a result, the right-handed batter is missing the ongoing three-day warm-up match against the Sri Lanka Cricket XI.

However, there is good news for India from the warm-up game as Devdutt Padikkal scored a century batting at number three, providing India with a ready alternative to replace Sudharsan.

India will also be without Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Akash Deep for the upcoming Test series due to injuries, while Washington Sundar will miss the first Test.

The second Test between the two sides starts on August 23 in Colombo. The series is part of the World Test Championship, where India is currently fifth in the points table as they push for a spot in the final.