The Indian cricket team faces a severe injury crisis with key players sidelined, complicating squad selections across all three formats.

Players like Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy are out of action for quite a while. The likes of Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar are also nursing injuries ahead of the two-Test series against Sri Lanka.

To add to India’s woes, ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah was ruled of the Sri Lanka Test series after failing to recover from an impact injury sustained on his left knee during the ODI series against England last month.

While these are some of the highlighted names, a report published in Dainik Jagran claims that 13 players who are either part of India's current setup or may be considered for future selection are undergoing rehabilitation at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.

According to the report, Bumrah reported to the CoE with inflammation in his left knee and during his rehabilitation, he encountered discomfort while jogging and performing single-leg exercises. Hence, there is no fixed timeline on his return to competitive action.

The report added that Hardik faced a brief recovery delay after experiencing right calf pain during his return from a left quadriceps injury. He was temporarily sidelined from running and bowling as a precaution, but scans showed no major damage.

The star all-rounder has since resumed running and is expected to increase his bowling workload.

Earlier, Shubman Gill was ruled out of Day 1 of India's practice match against the Sri Lanka Cricket XI (SLC XI) after sustaining an impact injury on his finger.

The Indian captain suffered the injury during a training session on Thursday (August 6). He sat out the opening day of the warm-up fixture to prevent further damage.

The decision was confirmed at the toss on Friday (August 7) morning, with KL Rahul leading the side in Gill's absence.

The BCCI also issued a statement, confirming that the medical team is actively monitoring Gill’s recovery and progress.

“Captain Shubman Gill sustained an impact injury to his right ring finger during India's practice on Thursday. As a precautionary measure, he will not take the field on Day 1 of the warm-up game against SLC XI. The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring his progress. KL Rahul will lead the team in Gill's absence,” the statement read.

After featuring in a three-day practice match at the NCC in Colombo, Team India will travel to Galle for the series opener starting August 15. They will return to Colombo for the second Test, slated to be held at the Sinhalese Sports Club from August 23-27.

This series is extremely crucial for Gill's men as they aim to climb from fifth position in the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) standings.