Sarfaraz Khan named in India's Test squad for Sri Lanka series as replacement

Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan finally got the news he had been waiting for. After being called up to India's Test squad for the Sri Lanka series, Sarfaraz shared his first post on social media. The 28-year-old posted a couple of pictures in the Team India travelling jersey. In one of the pictures, his father was also seen sitting beside him. The moment came after a long wait for the right-handed batter, who has continued to impress in domestic cricket despite being away from the Indian Test team.

Sarfaraz was added to India's squad as a replacement for Sai Sudharsan, who has been ruled out of the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka. Sudharsan suffered a toe injury during the India A tour last month. He is currently recovering at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (COE) in Bengaluru. The BCCI said Sudharsan has made significant progress and that its medical team is closely monitoring his recovery.

"The men's Selection Committee has named Sarfaraz Khan as a replacement for Sai Sudharsan for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka," the BCCI said in a release. "He will link up with the Indian squad in Colombo before the team travels to Galle for the first Test match, starting August 15, 2026," BCCI said.

Sarfaraz has already played six Tests for India and has scored 372 runs. His last Test appearance came against New Zealand in Mumbai in 2024. He was part of India's squad for the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia but did not play in any of the five Tests.

Sarfaraz was also part of the India A squad during the England tour but did not make the main Indian Test squad for the five-match series in June-July 2025. Despite the setbacks, he continued to perform strongly in domestic cricket and remained in contention for a return to the national team.

India are currently fifth on the World Test Championship (WTC) points table. The two-Test series against sixth-placed Sri Lanka will be important for India's hopes of reaching the WTC final. The first Test will be played in Galle from August 15, with the second Test to follow in Colombo.

Updated India squad vs Sri Lanka: Shubman Gill (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), 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.