Team India touch down in Sri Lanka, to play three-day warm-up before Tests
Shubman Gill-led India arrived in Sri Lanka on Tuesday, August 4, ahead of the two-match Test series against the hosts. The Indian squad landed at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo at 3:50 pm Sri Lanka time on SriLankan Airlines flight UL1144 from Mumbai, where officials from Sri Lanka Cricket welcomed the visitors.
India will begin their preparations with a three-day warm-up match against a Sri Lanka XI from August 7 to 9 at the Nondescripts Cricket Club (NCC) Ground in Colombo. The fixture was originally scheduled for four days before Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) revised it to a three-day contest.
SLC said in a statement: “Team India will play a 3-day warm-up game instead of the originally scheduled four-day fixture. The warm-up fixture will commence on 7 August at the NCC Grounds, Colombo. The India team is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on 4 August. The first Test will be played at the Galle International Cricket Stadium from 15 to 19 August, while the second Test will be held at the SSC, Colombo, from 23 to 27 August.”
The series is India’s second assignment in the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle. The first Test will be played in Galle from August 15 to 19 before the teams head to Colombo for the second and final Test from August 23 to 27.
India are fifth in the World Test Championship standings with four wins and four defeats from nine matches, giving them a points percentage of 48.15. Sri Lanka are sixth with one win, one loss and two draws, and a points percentage of 41.67.
India were dealt a major setback before the tour after Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out with a left knee injury that has not healed completely. The BCCI named Jammu and Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi as his replacement, handing the 29-year-old his maiden senior India call-up.
Nabi became the first cricketer from the Kashmir Valley to be selected in India’s Test squad. He earned his opportunity after taking 104 wickets across the last two Ranji Trophy seasons, including 60 wickets in Jammu and Kashmir’s historic title-winning 2025-26 campaign. He also impressed on the recent India A tour of Sri Lanka, claiming six wickets in two first-class matches.
Meanwhile, Sai Sudharsan’s availability remains subject to fitness clearance as the left-handed batter continues to recover from a foot injury sustained during the India A tour of Sri Lanka.
India squad: Shubman Gill (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sai Sudharsan (subject to fitness clearance), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain and Auqib Nabi.
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