Shubman Gill is sitting out the first day of the touring Indians' only tour game in Sri Lanka, a three-day contest against a Sri Lanka Cricket XI, because of an "impact injury to his right ring finger during India's practice on Thursday", a BCCI statement said. KL Rahul, the designated vice-captain, is leading the side in Gill's absence.

Elaborating on Gill's condition, the BCCI said, "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."

It remains to be seen if Gill plays any part on days two and three. The SLC XI won the toss and chose to bowl, and the Indians will likely do the bulk of their batting on day two.

B Sai Sudharsan, meanwhile, has not yet reached Sri Lanka after suffering a toe injury during the India A tour of Sri Lanka in late June-early July. He is, however, expected to link up with the team before the first Test.

Gill's injury adds to a long list of India cricketers who are dealing with injuries and layoffs. In the biggest update in the lead-up to the two-Test series in Sri Lanka, Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out altogether with the BCCI medical team recommending further rest to recover from the left knee issue that has dogged him since the T20 World Cup earlier this year. Auqib Nabi came into the squad in Bumrah's place.

India are also without allrounders Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy, who are out with hamstring and quadriceps injuries, respectively, and Washinton Sundar has been ruled out of at least the first Test because of a hamstring injury. Akash Deep, meanwhile, has not been on the selectors' radar for a while as he recovers from stress reactions on his back.

On July 19, soon after India lost the ODI series in England, Gill had turned the spotlight on the frequency of injuries that have hampered India's plans and prevented them from putting their best team on the park at all times.

"It becomes a little difficult that you come to the ground on the morning and you come to know a player has a niggle, then it's almost like do you want to take a chance," Gill had said. "Some player is 80% fit, you are playing with five bowlers and if this player comes out after bowling five overs, then who will bowl? This is difficult. So as a group we need improved our fitness and all those things."

Gill's larger fear was that if the trend continued, it would have a severe impact on India's performance at the 2027 ODI World Cup, which will be played next October-November in southern Africa.

The first Test in Sri Lanka begins on August 15 in Galle and the second on August 23 at the SSC in Colombo.

The series in Sri Lanka is India's first in the ongoing World Test Championship cycle since the 2-0 home defeat to South Africa in November. Before that, they had drawn a five-Test series in England 2-2 and beaten West Indies 2-0 at home.