Sudharsan also had a toe injury while he was batting at the Centre of Excellence and was not able to walk or run at all between the wickets. The injury comes shortly after frontline pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was also sidelined for the tour, for a short-term rehabilitation and to cope with the demands of a demanding international schedule.
Sudharsan was picked up in India's fifteen-man team as part of a dominant domestic and franchise run that included an 81-run hit against Afghanistan in June and over 700 runs for the Gujarat Titans in the 2026 Indian Premier League season. While he was picked for the tour on July 28 and required a fitness certificate before going on tour, he did not travel with the first group on August 4. With his recovery still incomplete, he will miss some key red-ball matches in the island nation and this leaves a significant vacancy at the key number three position that he had well and truly established since his Test debut.
The timing of the injury is a huge problem for the team management, in part because Sudharsan is an experienced local cricketer and had already toured with the India A team for unofficial Test matches in Galle, where he had several great century performances. The Board of Control for Cricket in India selectors are expected to announce a replacement in the next few days, with domestic players like Shaik Rasheed and Sarfaraz Khan likely to be included in the squad.
Devdutt Padikkal has emerged as the favorite candidate to take the vacant number three position after a perfect century in the intra-squad warm-up match at the Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground in Colombo. Padikkal's technical ability and ability to absorb pressure would make him ideal in the early order. But the selection committee is confronted with the problem of deciding the combinations of the batsmen ahead of the opening Test on August 15 at the Galle International Cricket Stadium.
