India will head into the two-Test series against Sri Lanka without several players because of injuries, with left-handed batter Sai Sudharsan becoming the latest addition to the list on Saturday.Sudharsan has been ruled out of the series after failing to recover from a big toe injury he suffered during the India A tour of Sri Lanka last month. He scored two centuries in the two ‘A’ Tests before being hit on the toe during the second match against Sri Lanka A. He has since been undergoing rehabilitation at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.Sudharsan joins Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar as players unavailable for the series because of injuries.Bumrah was ruled out earlier this week after failing to recover from a left knee niggle picked up during the second ODI against England in Cardiff last month. The injury is part of the fitness issues he has faced since the T20 World Cup.Jammu and Kashmir seamer Auqib Nabi, 29, has replaced Bumrah in India’s Test squad for the Sri Lanka tour.India are also without Rana and Reddy. Rana was ruled out of the ODI series against England with a Grade 1 biceps femoris muscle strain, or hamstring injury. The setback came after his return from a major right knee ligament injury and surgery that kept him out for four months. He subsequently missed the 2026 T20 World Cup and IPL 2026.Reddy is recovering from a left quadriceps injury that forced him to miss India’s recent white-ball tours of Ireland, England and Zimbabwe. He suffered the injury while bowling against Afghanistan in the home ODI series in June.Washington Sundar has been ruled out of the first Test because of a hamstring injury, while Akash Deep remains out after suffering stress reactions in his back.There is also a fitness concern around captain Shubman Gill, although he has not been ruled out of the series. Gill did not take the field on the opening day of India’s practice match against Sri Lanka Cricket XI in Colombo on Friday after hurting his right finger during practice.India’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka begins in Galle on August 15.
