Nabi comes with form on his side, having taken 104 wickets across the last two Ranji Trophy seasons, including 60 in the 2025-26 campaign, where he played a massive role in Jammu and Kashmir's maiden Ranji Trophy triumph. He was also part of the India A squad that toured Sri Lanka recently, where he claimed six wickets in two first-class matches.

This is Nabi's maiden call-up to the India side. If he gets to make his Test debut, he will be the first Test cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to do so.

Bumrah was officially ruled out of the touring group on Monday. He has not yet recovered from the left knee niggle that he picked up in Cardiff during the second ODI against England last month, an extension of his issues since the T20 World Cup. The squad will fly out to Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

India are already without the services of Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy, who are out with hamstring and quadriceps injuries, respectively. Washington Sundar has also been ruled out of the first Test with a hamstring injury, while Akash Deep is in the middle of a long layoff following stress reactions on his back.

Apart from Nabi, India's seam attack for the tour includes Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar. The two-Test series kicks off in Galle on August 15 with a three-day warm-up match scheduled in Colombo from August 7.