Washington doubtful, Rana and Nitish set to miss Sri Lanka Tests

India's selectors are awaiting a fresh set of fitness reports from the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru before finalising the squad for the Test series in Sri Lanka. The national selection committee is expected to convene within the next 10 to 36 hours, with the availability of players such as Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akash Deep and Anshul Kamboj among the key talking points.

Hardik Pandya and Varun Chakaravarthy, also at the CoE, are, of course, out of contention for the selection for the Sri Lanka tour given they are confined to white-ball cricket. But they are not the only ones who will miss out on the tour of Sri Lanka. Rana and Reddy are almost certainly ruled out of contention, and there is a question mark over Washington, who has generally been preferred by the team management under Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill.

With the pitches in Sri Lanka expected to assist spinners, Washington, an off-spinner who has experience of batting in the top order, will be a valuable asset. But there is still no guarantee that the 26-year-old all-rounder, who is nursing a hamstring injury, will be available for the series. One possibility is a conditional selection for the second Test, which starts on August 23, but even that appears to be a long shot.

With Bumrah expected to join the CoE, there is a bit of ambiguity whether he will be available for the Tests, which are going to be part of the current WTC cycle. However, given that he has not played much cricket since the IPL, the chances of his inclusion are higher than not. He missed the final ODI against England at Lord’s, but the injury to his left knee was not considered too serious.

“Jasprit Bumrah had an impact injury on his left knee while fielding in the second ODI in Cardiff. He was not available for selection for the third ODI due to reactive swelling in his left knee,” the BCCI had said about the spearhead.

Rana, who is nursing a hamstring injury like Washington, is almost certainly ruled out, just like Nitish, the all-format player, who is understood to have been told that the team management is currently looking at him only for white-ball cricket. So, he is expected to return to action only in September, when India have a string of white-ball matches. His next red-ball appearance may only come in November in New Zealand, where India are scheduled to play two WTC Tests.

Most players who are part of the one-off Test against Afghanistan last month are expected to retain their places in the squad which should also have Ravindra Jadeja, who had missed that match in New Chandigarh.

The selection meeting was originally supposed to take place on Tuesday but there is a possibility that it may take place on Monday itself, online.

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