Auqib Nabi earns maiden India call-up, replaces injured Jasprit Bumrah for Sri Lanka tour

India have suffered a massive jolt ahead of their two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, starting August 15. India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the series with the left knee injury he sustained during the second ODI against England at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

The All India Senior Men's National Selection Committee has picked Auqib Nabi as Bumrah's replacement for the series. Nabi, 29, has been hands down the most proficient pacer in the Ranji Trophy in the last two seasons. Nabi claimed 44 wickets in eight games of the Ranji Trophy 2024/25 season, averaging 13.93, including six five-wicket hauls. 

He was the second-highest wicket-taker of the season behind Vidarbha's Harsh Dubey, who snared 69 scalps in 10 games at an average of 16.98, including seven five-wicket hauls.

Nabi then backed it up with an even more supreme effort, finishing as the leading wicket-taker in the 2025-26 season of the premier red-ball tournament and guiding Jammu & Kashmir to their maiden Ranji title. Nabi claimed 60 scalps in 10 games at an average of 12.56 with the help of seven five-wicket hauls.

The right-arm pacer picked up six wickets in the recently concluded India A's tour of Sri Lanka A, where they played two unofficial Tests.

For the unversed, the setback to the left knee had forced Bumrah to sit out of the ODI series decider against England at Lord's, and it cost India dearly. The Men in Blue's bowling attack looked fairly ordinary and ended up conceding 387 when bowling first. It ultimately proved too large a peak to scale for Team India as they could only manage 360 for the loss of seven wickets and lost by 27 runs.

India's updated squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka: Shubman Gill (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sai Sudharsan*, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain, Auqib Nabi.

India tour of Sri Lanka 2026