And back to red-ball cricket. Fresh off an abject white-ball tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland, India’s focus will soon turn back to the longest format as its red-ball season begins with a two-match tour of neighbouring Sri Lanka.
It may seem distant now, but Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill were under pressure at the end of India’s last home Test series. Although India comprehensively beat Afghanistan in a one-off Test immediately after the IPL, its previous outing in the longest format ended in a comprehensive humbling at the hands of South Africa, which out-bowled, out-batted, and out-thought India to complete a second whitewash in three home series.
The Sri Lanka series therefore represents India’s first genuine opportunity to begin answering questions about its Test side. With the squad expected to be announced soon, here are three questions hanging over India:
Who are the spinners?
Perhaps the standout feature of the South Africa series was how comprehensively India’s spinners were out-bowled by their counterparts. Although the Proteas’ tweakers claimed only four more wickets (25 to 21), they did so at a significantly better average (15.48 to 30.33) and strike rate (37.4 to 62.4).
India fielded four spinners in that series: Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Kuldeep Yadav. Jadeja, Washington, and Kuldeep are still expected to form India’s first-choice spin attack, with Axar having been left out of the Afghanistan Test.
However, Kuldeep’s form has dipped significantly, to the extent that he was dropped by his IPL franchise, Delhi Capitals, while the team management has consistently shown a reluctance to back him across both red-ball and white-ball cricket. Washington also faces major fitness concerns after suffering a hamstring injury in the second ODI against England.
In the absence of either, or both, India’s spin options begin to look rather one-dimensional. Manav Suthar, who gave a fine account of himself on his Test debut (6-33) against Afghanistan, and Harsh Dubey are the players closest to a call-up, but both are left-arm spinners like Jadeja and Axar.
On the recent India A tour of Sri Lanka, experienced Madhya Pradesh all-rounder Saransh Jain was selected as a right-arm off-spin option, while Mumbai’s Tanush Kotian has also featured in recent times. The options are even thinner when it comes to wrist-spin, with Zeeshan Ansari earning selection despite boasting just five First-Class appearances for Uttar Pradesh.
With spin likely to play a major role in Sri Lanka, the selectors and team management face a headache over the make-up of the attack if Kuldeep and Washington are unavailable.
Sai Sudharsan vs Padikkal: The battle for No. 3
A battle within the batting order. Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal are set to vie for India’s No. 3 spot ahead of the two-Test series in Sri Lanka. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
India appears settled through most of its batting order. Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul are pencilled in as the opening pair, Gill will bat at four, followed by Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, and the all-rounders, including Jadeja.
The only position that remains uncertain is No. 3.
B. Sai Sudharsan is the incumbent, having edged out Devdutt Padikkal for the role in the Afghanistan Test. He made a respectable 84 in that match, although he perhaps left a century behind on a flat wicket. He also featured in both India A matches in Sri Lanka, scoring 332 runs at an average of 166, including two centuries.
However, he struggled in the role during the England series in 2025, averaging 23.33 across six innings, and was similarly unable to find runs in his lone Test against South Africa, although he produced a stubborn final-innings resistance of 14 from 139 balls with defeat staring India in the face.
Another lean series in Sri Lanka could open the door for Padikkal, who has the weight of prolific domestic runs for Karnataka behind him, along with two fifties at No. 3 during the India A series.
The pace battery
Auqib Nabi strengthened his case for a maiden India Test call-up with an impressive showing on the recent India A tour of Sri Lanka. | Photo Credit: SLC
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj are likely to remain India’s primary pace options, but with a home Border-Gavaskar Trophy and an ODI World Cup pencilled into the 2027 schedule, it seems unlikely that Bumrah will be a regular presence throughout the home red-ball season.
In his absence, it remains to be seen how the pecking order among the remaining seamers shapes up. Prasidh Krishna has featured regularly in recent Tests, while Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj, and Shardul Thakur were all called up during the England series.
Beyond that group, Gurnoor Brar and Auqib Nabi present the strongest cases for inclusion. Gurnoor has featured prominently in India’s recent ODI side and has impressed with his pace, while Nabi boasts an outstanding domestic record. Both also impressed on the recent India A tour of Sri Lanka, taking 10 wickets at 14.50 and six wickets at 25.33 respectively.
With India likely to field only two frontline quicks because of its abundance of spin-bowling all-rounders, the seamers selected for this tour could provide an indication of where they stand in the team’s long-term plans.
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Published on Jul 24, 2026