Sri Lanka vs India, Tests: Who will replace Jasprit Bumrah?
What's the story
Jasprit Bumrah, India's premier fast bowler, has been ruled out of the upcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka due to a knee injury. According to a recent PTI report, Jammu and Kashmir seamer Auqib Nabi is likely to get his maiden national call-up as Bumrah's replacement. Nabi will be the third player from J&K after Parvez Rasool and Umran Malik to receive a senior national call-up.
Recovery timeline
Bumrah's injury worse than expected
The report added that Bumrah's knee swelling is worse than initially thought, and the Sports Science team at Bengaluru's Centre of Excellence (COE) doesn't want to rush him back into international cricket.
Initially, both the team management and selection committee were led to believe that Bumrah could be fit for at least one of the two Tests against Sri Lanka.
Rising star
Nabi has been a standout performer
A BCCI source confirmed to PTI that "Bumrah is not fit and Auqib Nabi has been approved as his replacement."
Nabi has been a standout performer in the last two Ranji Trophy seasons, taking over 100 wickets - 60 in 2025-26 and 44 in 2024-25.
He was instrumental in Jammu and Kashmir's maiden Ranji Trophy title last year and is also a capable batsman.
Numbers
A look at Auqib Nabi's numbers
Nabi's stellar performances of late have forced the Indian selectors to consider him in Tests.
Despite being among the wickets, he was not included in India's squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan. Earlier this year, he featured for India A in Sri Lanka.
The right-arm medium-pacer, who relies on accuracy, has 162 wickets from 43 First-Class games at 18.63. His tally includes 16 fifers and four match hauls of 10 wickets.