Sri Lanka host India in the first Test of a two-match series at Galle International Stadium from 15 to 19 August 2026, starting at 10am local time. It is India's first Test in Sri Lanka since August 2017. Both sides need World Test Championship points, sitting fifth and sixth as at 7 August 2026.
Key takeaways
- The first Test runs from 15 to 19 August 2026 at Galle International Stadium, with the second Test at the SSC in Colombo from 23 to 27 August.
- It is India's first Test match in Sri Lanka since August 2017; their record there is 24 Tests, nine won, seven lost and eight drawn.
- Galle has hosted 49 Tests and only seven have been drawn, with the side batting first winning 26 of them (as at 7 August 2026).
- Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out on 3 August with a left knee injury and replaced by the uncapped Auqib Nabi, while Ravindra Jadeja returns to the squad.
- India were fifth in the World Test Championship standings on 48.15 per cent and Sri Lanka sixth on 41.67 per cent as at 7 August 2026.
India begin a two-Test tour of Sri Lanka at Galle on 15 August 2026. It is their first Test in the country since August 2017, and the first time Shubman Gill has captained India in a Test outside England or India.
Neither side arrives with much recent red-ball cricket. Sri Lanka last played in early July, drawing in Antigua against West Indies. India's most recent Test was in June, at home to Afghanistan. Both need points: as at 7 August 2026 India sit fifth in the World Test Championship standings and Sri Lanka sixth.
| Fixture | Dates | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Tour match v Sri Lanka Cricket XI | 7–9 August 2026 | NCC, Colombo |
| 1st Test | 15–19 August 2026 | Galle International Stadium |
| 2nd Test | 23–27 August 2026 | SSC, Colombo |
Play in Galle starts at 10am local time; Sri Lanka and India keep the same clock, so that is 10am IST. Session-by-session coverage will be on the live scores page, and the rest of the calendar is on the match schedule.
What has happened to India's squad since it was picked?
The BCCI named a 15-man squad on 28 July, with Gill as captain and KL Rahul as vice-captain. Two names carried a fitness asterisk — Jasprit Bumrah and Sai Sudharsan — and on 3 August Bumrah was ruled out altogether, having not recovered from the left knee injury he picked up during the one-day series against England.
His replacement is Auqib Nabi, the Jammu and Kashmir seamer, uncapped at senior level. The BCCI noted he took 104 wickets across the last two Ranji Trophy seasons, 60 of them in 2025-26, in the season Jammu and Kashmir won the title for the first time. He also took six first-class wickets in two matches on India A's recent tour of the island.
- In: Ravindra Jadeja, back in the Test squad for the first time since January 2026.
- In, uncapped: Saransh Jain, a spin-bowling all-rounder with 188 first-class wickets at 27.3, and Auqib Nabi.
- Out: Jasprit Bumrah (knee); Washington Sundar, unavailable for the first Test.
- Fitness watch: Sai Sudharsan.
Sri Lanka had not named their Test squad as at 7 August 2026 — the squad column on the match page was still empty. The tour match in Colombo is being played against a Sri Lanka Cricket XI rather than a shadow Test side, so the selection picture there is limited.
What does Galle's record actually say?
Galle is not a ground where Tests drift. It has hosted 49 of them and only seven have been drawn. Sri Lanka have won 27 and lost 15 there.
The first-innings advantage is real but not overwhelming. Across those 49 matches the side batting first has won 26 times and the side batting second 16 times.
| Team | Tests at Galle | Won | Lost | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sri Lanka | 49 | 27 | 15 | 7 |
| Australia | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Pakistan | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| England | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| New Zealand | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| India | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| West Indies | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| South Africa | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
All figures as at 7 August 2026.
India's two wins at the ground came in 2008 and 2017; the three defeats came in 2001, 2010 and 2015, and none of their five Tests there has been drawn. Across Sri Lanka as a whole India have played 24 Tests for nine wins, seven defeats and eight draws, a record built over 40 years.
Why do spinners decide Tests at Galle?
The wicket-taking list at the ground is a spinners' list, and it is not close. The five leading bowlers in Galle Test history are all Sri Lankan spinners.
| Bowler | Tests at Galle | Wickets | Average | Five-fors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muttiah Muralitharan | 15 | 111 | 18.50 | 11 |
| Rangana Herath | 19 | 102 | 24.94 | 9 |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 11 | 81 | 26.62 | 9 |
| Ramesh Mendis | 12 | 64 | 26.43 | 5 |
| Dilruwan Perera | 10 | 57 | 26.82 | 4 |
The leading overseas bowler at the venue is Nathan Lyon, with 35 wickets in six Tests. R Ashwin took 14 at 22.07 in his two Tests there.
That weighting shapes both XIs. India's squad carries four frontline spin options in Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar and Saransh Jain, and Kuldeep in particular has an unusual record: 79 wickets in 18 Tests at 22.35, with a strike rate of 37.9 balls per wicket. Jadeja has played only twice in Sri Lanka, in 2017, taking 13 wickets at 28.76 including a five-for.
How have both sides been playing?
India's Test year has been uneven. They drew a five-match series in England in 2025, beat West Indies at home 2-0, then lost at home to South Africa — including a 408-run defeat in Guwahati — before an innings-and-300-run win over Afghanistan in June 2026.
Sri Lanka have played six Tests since the start of 2025 and won one of them. Their last home Test was against Bangladesh in June 2025.
- Sri Lanka's last six Tests: lost twice to Australia at Galle (January and February 2025), drew with Bangladesh at Galle, beat Bangladesh at the SSC, lost to West Indies in North Sound by an innings, drew the second Test there in July 2026.
- India's last six Tests: drew at Manchester, won at The Oval, beat West Indies in Ahmedabad and Delhi, lost twice to South Africa, beat Afghanistan in New Chandigarh.
What is at stake in the World Test Championship?
This is a World Test Championship series, and both teams are chasing a top-two finish that decides the 2027 final. The standings are ordered by percentage of available points won, not raw points.
| Pos | Team | Played | Points | PCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | 8 | 84 | 87.50 |
| 2 | South Africa | 4 | 36 | 75.00 |
| 3 | New Zealand | 6 | 52 | 72.22 |
| 4 | Bangladesh | 4 | 28 | 58.33 |
| 5 | India | 9 | 52 | 48.15 |
| 6 | Sri Lanka | 4 | 20 | 41.67 |
Source: ICC standings, as at 7 August 2026. Full tables for every competition sit on the series pages.
The maths matters more for Sri Lanka. With only four Tests played in the cycle, two results here move their percentage a long way in either direction. India, nine Tests in, have a heavier denominator and less room to recover a bad week.
Which matchups shape the first Test?
Three pairings look likely to set the tone.
- Sri Lanka's spin against India's top order. Prabath Jayasuriya's Galle record — 81 wickets in 11 Tests — is the single most striking number in this preview, and Ramesh Mendis has 64 at the same ground. If Sri Lanka pick both, India's batters face left-arm and off-spin from opposite ends on a surface that historically turns.
- Jadeja and Kuldeep against Sri Lanka's middle order. Jadeja is 89 Tests into a career with 348 wickets at 25.11 and 4,095 runs at 38.27; he is the reason India can play three spinners without shortening the batting.
- India's seam attack without Bumrah. Mohammed Siraj is the only India seamer in the squad with an established Test record. Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar and Auqib Nabi make up the rest, and Galle rarely offers a seamer much beyond the first session and the second new ball.
What selection questions does each side face?
India's first is how many spinners to play, and whether Saransh Jain or Manav Suthar takes a third slot alongside Jadeja and Kuldeep. The second is the wicketkeeping and top-order shape: Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel and KL Rahul are all listed as keepers in the squad, which gives Gill room to pick a batter as a specialist and a keeper who bats.
Sri Lanka's questions cannot be answered until they name a squad. Their two Tests in the Caribbean in mid-2026 produced one heavy defeat and one draw, and their last outing at Galle, against Bangladesh, was drawn.
What is worth watching before the first ball?
- The tour match in Colombo from 7 August, which is India's only red-ball cricket before the Test.
- Sri Lanka's squad announcement, and in particular how many frontline spinners it carries.
- Sai Sudharsan's fitness, the last unresolved question in India's 15.
- The toss. On a ground where the side batting first has won 26 of 49 Tests, it is worth more than at most venues.
Build-up, squad confirmations and team news are collected on the cricket news page as they land.
Frequently asked questions
The first Test begins on 15 August 2026 at Galle International Stadium and is scheduled to run until 19 August. Play starts at 10am local time, which is also 10am IST, as Sri Lanka and India share the same time zone. The second Test follows at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo from 23 to 27 August 2026.
The BCCI ruled Bumrah out on 3 August 2026, stating he had not fully recovered from the left knee injury he sustained during the one-day international series against England. He was originally named in the 15-man squad subject to fitness clearance. Auqib Nabi, the uncapped Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler, was named as his replacement.
India have played 24 Tests in Sri Lanka, winning nine, losing seven and drawing eight, across a span running from 1985 to 2017. At Galle specifically they have played five Tests, winning two and losing three, with no draws. Their last Test in the country was at Pallekele in August 2017. All figures as at 7 August 2026.
It helps, but it does not settle matches. Of the 49 Tests played at Galle International Stadium as at 7 August 2026, the side batting first has won 26 and the side batting second 16, with seven drawn. The low draw count is the more useful signal: Galle produces results far more often than most Test venues.
Muttiah Muralitharan, with 111 wickets in 15 Tests at an average of 18.50, ahead of Rangana Herath on 102 from 19 Tests. Prabath Jayasuriya is third with 81 wickets in only 11 Tests. The five leading wicket-takers at the ground are all Sri Lankan spinners, which is the clearest evidence of what the surface tends to do. Figures as at 7 August 2026.
Both matches count towards the 2025-27 cycle, which ranks teams by the percentage of available points won. As at 7 August 2026 India were fifth on 48.15 per cent from nine Tests and Sri Lanka sixth on 41.67 per cent from four. With fewer matches played, Sri Lanka's percentage will move further on each result.
Sources
- India's squad for the Tour of Sri Lanka announced
- Auqib Nabi replaces Jasprit Bumrah in India's Test squad
- Key takeaways from India's Test squad against Sri Lanka
- Gambhir's message for India ahead of Sri Lanka Test series
- ICC World Test Championship standings
- Galle International Stadium — Test match team results summary
- Galle International Stadium — most Test wickets
- Statsguru — Test results at Galle International Stadium
- Statsguru — India in Tests against Sri Lanka, away
- Statsguru — India Test results since January 2025
- Statsguru — Sri Lanka Test results since January 2025
- Statsguru — Shubman Gill's Test batting as captain
- Statsguru — Ravindra Jadeja's Test record in Sri Lanka
- Statsguru — Kuldeep Yadav's Test bowling record
- Sri Lanka v India, 1st Test at Galle — match squads
- Sri Lanka Cricket XI v India, tour match — playing XI
Statistics in this article were checked as at 7 August 2026.
