Saransh earns maiden call-up to India Test squad for tour of Sri Lanka

Saransh Jain, an off-spinner from Madhya Pradesh has earned a call up to the national test team that is set to travel to Sri Lanka for a two-match series next month. The first test will be played in Galle from August 15 to 19 and the second test is scheduled from August 23 to 27 in Colombo.

Saransh gets his opportunity to potentially wear the Indian cap in the tests and represent the nation because of fellow all-rounder Washington Sundar’s hamstring injury, which he suffered during the ODI series against England. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said that Sundar is not available for the first test and hence he has been left out of the squad.

The 33-year-old, Saransh has had a fairly successful career in domestic cricket so far. In the 54 first-class cricket matches he has played so far, he picked up 188 wickets. From the squad that was picked for the one-off test against Afghanistan earlier in June, India’s veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja returns to the team. He was rested for the Afghanistan assignment, and he is expected to lead the spin bowling department on the tour to the emerald nation.

Other spinners who are included in the squad include the ever-reliable chinaman, Kuldeep Yadav and Manv Suthar who impressed the world with both batting and bowling in the match against Afghanistan. One of India’s most reliable pacers, Jasprit Bumrah also returns to the side and he will be spearheading the pace attack.

His selection in the Playing XI, however, remains subject to fitness. The 32-year-old pacer missed the last ODI against England after sustaining an injury to his left knee. Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar and Mohammed Siraj are other pacer that are part of the 15-member squad chosen for the Sri Lankan tour.

In the batting department, things look pretty decent for India with only worry being the availability of Sai Sudarshan, depending on his fitness status. Recently, the southpaw toured with India A to Sri Lanka and scored two centuries.

Before the start of the test series, India is set to play a four-day practice match in Colombo starting from August 7.

Here is the full 15-member squad for the Sri Lankan tour:

Shubman Gill (C), K.L. Rahul (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sai Sudharsan*, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Jasprit Bumrah*, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain.

*subject to fitness