New Delhi, 26 July

Indian selectors face a selection headache ahead of the two-Test series against Sri Lanka, with Washington Sundar unlikely to recover in time for the opening match in Galle, leaving the reserve spinner's slot up for grabs.

The Indian squad for the Sri Lanka Tests will be announced on Tuesday and the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel is dealing with a plethora of fitness issues plaguing the national team at the moment.

Senior speedster Jasprit Bumrah, who had missed the final ODI against England at Lord's due to an impact injury, is also expected to appear for a fitness Test.

It is understood that the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru has released the fitness updates as per which both Harshit Rana and NitishKumar Reddy are not in selection contention for the red ball series. They sustained hamstring injuries at different times and are currently in the middle of intense rehabilitation programme.

"Washington will only be fit by the second Test and it is there to be seen if selectors pick him for one game subject to fitness. Else, they will have to look for a fourth option beyond Ravindra Jadeja, Manav Suthar and Kuldeep Yadav. If they pick Harsh Dubey, it will be three bowlers with identical skill sets," a BCCI source privy to selection matters told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

The options available are off-spinner Saransh Jain, who is also a handy lower middle-order batter. Saransh did pretty well against Sri Lanka A where he took six wickets in two games and scored a 70 not out. Knowing Gambhir's propensity to have a handy batter till No. 8, Saransh won't be a bad option.

The other options are wrist spinners Zeeshan Ansari and Vipraj Nigam but men who matter believe that Nigam's game is more suited to white ball format. He bowls fast leg breaks and can hit the ball a long way as one has seen in IPL where he plays for Delhi Capitals.

In case of Bumrah, if he is not available then the pace attack will comprise Mohammed Siraj, Gurnoor Brar and Prasidh Krishna. Akash Deep, who played a stellar role in 2025 England away series is still recuperating from stress fracture and has just about started his 'Return To Play' protocols.

"Akash is bowling around 12-15 balls a day as per instructions. He is still some time away from attaining his full fitness," the source added.

The opening Test is scheduled to be held in in Galle from 15 August while the second Test will begin on 23 August in Colombo.

Hardik Pandya to be available from August

Meanwhile, senior all-rounder Hardik Pandya is back to full fitness and will be available for India's white-ball assignment from the month of August after completing the mandatory 'Return to Play' protocols by the end of July, BCCI sources informed on Sunday.

India's No. 1 pace bowling all-rounder was supposed to play the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan in June after being cleared to play post his quadriceps strain.

"Hardik is ready to play both forms of white ball cricket. He is expected to get fitness certificate by the end of this month. If India's proposed white ball tour of Bangladesh happens, Hardik can be expected to be picked. He has been training two sessions at the COE. The morning is primarily for fitness work and evening is purely skill-based (batting and bowling)," the source added.