IND vs SL Tests: Auqib Nabi gets India call-up as Jasprit Bumrah's st…

Jammu and Kashmir seamer Auqib Nabi on Monday replaced injured Jasprit Bumrah for the upcoming two-match Test tour of Sri Lanka, becoming the first player from the Kashmir valley to get selected in India’s Test squad. orlando-books.blog

Bumrah, originally named in the squad, has been ruled out of the tour as he has not yet fully recovered from the left knee injury sustained during the ODI series against England.

It is Nabi’s maiden call-up to the senior national team. “The Men’s Selection Committee has named Auqib Nabi as Bumrah’s replacement. The Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler earns his maiden call-up to the senior national team,” the BCCI said in a statement.

The 29-year-old Nabi, who hails from a remote village in Kashmir’s Baramulla, had claimed 104 wickets across the last two Ranji Trophy seasons, including 60 wickets in the 2025-26 campaign, playing a pivotal role in J&K’s maiden Ranji triumph.

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Johannesburg [South Africa], August 4 (ANI): Former South African captain and ICC Hall of Famer Graeme Smith expressed happiness at the return of the 50-over World Cup to Africa after 24 years, saying that the vibrancy of the three co-hosts, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, the quality of players and the fan base deserve a world event.

South Africa last co-hosted the tournament in 2003, alongside Zimbabwe and Kenya. They will stage the 2027 tournament alongside Zimbabwe and Namibia.

“It has been a long time coming since Africa or South Africa hosted a men’s world cricket event again," Smith said as quoted by ICC, during a star-studded evening in Johannesburg which marked the announcement of the 12 venues that will stage the competition.

“I think the vibrancy of these three nations, the quality of players, the fan base certainly deserves a world event in the game, so it is great to have it back," he added.

Smith also underlined why the Cricket World Cup continues to hold a unique place in world cricket despite the sport’s evolving landscape.

The 2027 edition will be the 14th Men’s Cricket World Cup and the first to feature 14 teams since 2015. Smith went on to compare the success of the recently-concluded FIFA World Cup 2026, where 48 teams took part to make the event a massive success.

“We have just come off a football World Cup where you have seen a massive amount of nations compete and the cultures and the coming together of many different countries getting behind their teams," he added.

“It is amazing. With 14 teams now, you hope that many people decide to come and travel to South Africa and be a part of the event.

“I think from a world sporting event perspective, most World Cups happen every four-year cycle."

“It is seen as the event to win. It’s obviously got a lot more tradition, a lot more stature. I think still when you get to this ODI World Cup it is going to be intense, the fandom is going to be great. I think it is the one that everyone wants to get their hands on," he continued.

The 2027 tournament will feature 14 teams, an increase from the 10-team format at the previous two Men’s Cricket World Cups.

Smith is buoyed by the expansion, saying it reflects the continued growth of the international game and gives more nations the opportunity to compete on cricket’s biggest stage.

“I think you have seen the fan base and the teams coming through. I think that’s improved dramatically over the last few years. I think we want to see cricket grow," Smith said.

The marquee tournament slated for next year will be hosted across eight venues in South Africa, three in Zimbabwe and the Namibia Cricket Ground in the Namibian capital city of Windhoek.

It will mark only the third occasion of the tournament being staged across three host nations after 1996 and 2003. (ANI)

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New Delhi [India], August 4 (ANI): Commonwealth Games 2026 gold medallist Priya Ghanghas received a grand welcome at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Tuesday morning as India’s boxing contingent returned home after scripting history at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Ghanghas, who clinched the women’s 60kg gold medal in Scotland, was welcomed alongside fellow gold medallists Jaismine Lamboria, Arundhati Choudhary, Sakshi Chaudhary and Preeti Pawar by family members, coaches and supporters.

Speaking after her arrival, Ghanghas told ANI, “This is my best performance till date, and I am happy that I could represent India at CWG and win the gold. I thank everyone for such a grand welcome. My next target is to win a gold medal at the Asian Games next month and hoist the tricolour once again. This medal is not mine but the entire country’s."

The Haryana boxer capped off a memorable campaign in Glasgow with a hard-fought 4-1 split-decision victory over Canada’s Marie-Bathoul Al-Ahmadieh in the women’s 60kg final to add to India’s golden run in the ring.

India produced the greatest boxing campaign by any nation in Commonwealth Games history, finishing on top of the medal standings with seven gold and three silver medals. The 10-medal haul eclipsed the previous record of six boxing gold medals jointly held by England (1934 and 2018) and Canada (1986).

Besides Ghanghas, India’s gold medals came through Sachin Siwach, Jaismine Lamboria, Preeti Pawar, Sakshi Chaudhary, Arundhati Choudhary and Ankush Panghal. Narender Berwal, Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain and Jadumani Singh contributed silver medals to complete the country’s historic tally.

Ankush Panghal sealed India’s seventh gold by defeating England’s Dimeji Shittu 4-1 in the men’s 80kg final, while Sachin Siwach produced a stirring comeback to beat Namibia’s Tryagain Morning Ndevelo in the men’s 60kg title clash.

In the women’s events, reigning world champion Jaismine Lamboria defeated Northern Ireland’s Michaela Walsh 5-0 in the 57kg final, Preeti Pawar outclassed Canada’s Scarlett Delgado 5-0 in the 54kg final, Arundhati Choudhary cruised to a unanimous-decision victory over England’s Chantelle Reid in the 70kg category, and Sakshi Chaudhary defeated England’s Ruby White 5-0 in the women’s 51kg final.

Among the silver medallists, Narender Berwal finished runner-up in the men’s 90+kg category after losing to England’s Damar Thomas, while Lovlina Borgohain narrowly missed gold in the women’s 75kg final against Australia’s Emma-Sue Greentree. Jadumani Singh also settled for silver in the men’s 55kg event after going down to Australia’s Jye Dixon.

The unprecedented performance in Glasgow reaffirmed India’s emergence as the dominant force in Commonwealth boxing and marked the country’s finest-ever campaign in the sport. (ANI)

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IND vs SL 2026: Team India will begin a two-match Test series against hosts Sri Lanka in Galle on August 15. It will be the first series in the World Test Championships (WTC) 2025-27 calendar for Shubman Gill’s side this year after facing Afghanistan in a one-off Test in June. The game against Afghanistan wasn’t part of the WTC schedule.

Team India cricketers don’t want to leave any stone unturned to win comprehensively to win this away Test series. After India’s 2-0 loss to South Africa at home last year, Shubman Gill’s side need to win 7 out of the remaining 9 Tests to stand a chance of reaching the WTC 2027 final next year.

Team India Test opener KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been going through the paces in Mumbai ahead of their departure for Sri Lanka from the city on Tuesday evening. According to a report in Cricbuzz website, both Rahul and Jaiswal were seen training at an academy ground in Bandra amid intermittent rain in the city.

The report states that Rahul and Jaiwal were seen batting at Wings Sports Centre in Bandra West, a multi-sport facility with a specialized cricket nets managed by former India cricketer and BCCI selector Jatin Paranjape. The report added that both Indian openers had special focus on batting against spin, considering that the Lankans may field a spin-heavy attack against the visitors.

Rahul is India’s 2nd highest run-getter in the WTC 2025-27 behind only skipper Shubman Gill. The Delhi Capitals batter has scored 796 runs in 9 Tests at an average of 49.75 with 3 hundreds and 3 fifties to his name. He scored a century against Afghanistan in the one-off Test but it was not part of the WTC calendar.

While his opening partner Jaiswal managed to score 713 runs in 9 Tests at an average of 41.95 in this WTC cycle with 3 hundreds and 3 fifties. The Rajasthan Royals will look to improve his form as he had scored 1798 runs in the WTC 2023-25 cycle in 19 Tests with 4 hundreds and 10 fifties.

KL Rahul with youngsters. pic.twitter.com/JPHftqs6Sh

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 3, 2026

Rahul and Jaiswal faced a group of Mumbai spin bowlers including all-rounder Tanush Kotian at Bandra apart from a range of left-arm spinners, leg-spinners and off-spinners.

“They’ve been coming here regularly over the past few days. Jaiswal was here two days ago, KL came yesterday, and today they trained together,” Paranjape was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz website.

“It’s not surprising that they were practising against spin, given the conditions they expect to encounter in the series,” the former BCCI selector added.

Kotian added that Rahul and Jaiswal chose to train at Paranjape’s academy as the surfaces here provide plenty of assistance to the spin bowlers. “I train regularly at Jatin Sir’s academy. It’s one of the few facilities where we can practise during the monsoon. The wicket there offers plenty of turn, and Yashasvi and KL have been training with us over the past few days,” Kotian was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz website.

Tanush Kotian, Vipraj Nigam and Harsh Dubey travelling to Sri Lanka as net bowlers

Meanwhile, Kotian will be part of group of spinners including IPL stars Vipraj Nigam and Harsh Dubey as well as Shivang Kumar will be travelling with Team India Test squad as net bowlers. All of them are spin bowlers along with spinners Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar and Saransh Jain, who are part of the squad.

India’s updated squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka

Shubman Gill (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sai Sudharsan*, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain, Auqib Nabi.

(* Subject to fitness)