Sarfaraz Khan celebrated his return to the Indian team with a post of himself wearing their training kit and posing with his father, the former club cricketer and coach Naushad Khan. Sarfaraz has been included in the Indian side for their two-Test series in Sri Lanka as a replacement for the injured Sai Sudharsan.
With Devdutt Padikkal impressing during India’s warm-up match that ended on Sunday, it remains to be seen if Sarfaraz will be included in the team but the call-up marks a comeback to the squad after being frozen out for over a year. Sarfaraz’s last inclusion in the squad was in the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, which India lost 4-1. The 28-year-old boasts a first class average of 64.73 in 62 matches but has played just six Tests thus far for India, the last of which came in November 2024.
Eyebrows were then raised when he was kept out of the India A squad that faced South Africa A ahead of the two-match Test series between the two countries. India ended up losing that series 2-0 as well.
“Sai Sudharsan has been ruled out of the Test series against Sri Lanka. The left-handed batter, who has been at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (COE) in Bengaluru, has made significant progress in his recovery from the right toe stress reaction and is recovering well. The BCCI Medical Team is closely monitoring his progress,” the BCCI had said in a statement on Sunday.
“The Men’s Selection Committee has named Sarfaraz Khan as a replacement for Sai Sudharsan for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka. He will link up with the Indian squad in Colombo before the team travels to Galle for the first Test match, starting August 15, 2026,” it added.
Last Friday, the batter had posted a photo from the 2019 Telugu film ‘Jersey’ with a caption that read: “I may not fit in, but I’ll fight with everything I’ve got.”
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