India received a major boost ahead of next month’s Test series against Sri Lanka after pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was cleared to play by the BCCI‘s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru on Friday.
Bumrah had been named in India’s squad for the two-Test tour earlier this month, but his participation remained subject to fitness clearance. The fast bowler sustained an impact injury during the recent ODI series against England and was forced to miss the third ODI at Lord’s.
“Jasprit Bumrah has recovered from his impact injury. He has cleared the fitness tests mandated by the CoE. Hopefully, he will be available for both games as he is integral to the team’s plans,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on condition of anonymity.
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The two-Test series will restart India’s campaign in the 2027-29 World Test Championship cycle. The opening Test begins on August 15 in Galle, while the second will be played in Colombo from August 23.
India’s last WTC assignment came last year when they were swept 2-0 by South Africa. Although India played a one-off Test against Afghanistan earlier this month, that fixture was outside the World Test Championship.
India currently sit fifth in the WTC standings with four wins and four defeats from nine matches, giving them a points percentage (PCT) of 48.15. Sri Lanka are sixth with one win and one loss from four Tests.
With only nine matches remaining in this WTC cycle, India realistically need to win at least seven to stay firmly in contention for a place in the final. That makes a 2-0 sweep in Sri Lanka particularly important before a challenging away series against New Zealand later this year.
India’s injury concerns, however, remain far from over. Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy have already been ruled out with hamstring and quadriceps injuries respectively. Washington Sundar will miss the first Test because of a hamstring strain, while Akash Deep continues his rehabilitation after suffering stress reactions in his back.
