Injuries are part and parcel of cricket, but at times, it does get out of hand, in terms of both frequency and severity. The rate of players breaking down in Indian cricket has unfortunately risen in recent years, with the immense workload across formats, coupled with the game’s increased demand in the modern era.
With more emphasis on strength training and athleticism to be prepared for the workload year-round, and rushed recovery at times have led to a fragile foundation overall in terms of both prevention and cure of injuries.
Apart from the number of injuries, Team India have often been struck with poor timing, having had to deal with several high-profile injuries right before a tour or a tournament. Historically, some of them have proven to have had a direct impact on the overall result as well.
On that note, let us take a look at the five times Team India faced a major injury crisis before a Test tour.
#1 SL vs IND 2026 Test series
The upcoming series makes it to the list as it comes across as one of the biggest injury crises Team India have faced in recent times. The Indian cricket team have been hit with a wave of injuries post the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season. It had a calamitous effect on their tour of Ireland and England, and the crisis does not seem to subside ahead of the red-ball series.
With as many as 13 players recovering at the Centre of Excellence (CoE) ahead of the tour, it is not ideal for Team India, who need an optimal result in the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka to remain alive in the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) Final race.
In the initial squad named by the selection committee, three players’ availability was subject to fitness, namely Jasprit Bumrah, Sai Sudharsan, and Washington Sundar. All three of them are unlikely to feature in the series after failing to recover in time, forcing the team management to call on reinforcements like Auqib Nabi and Sarfaraz Khan.
To make matters worse, Shubman Gill was also struck on his hand twice and had to miss out on the initial stages of the three-day warm-up match against Sri Lanka Cricket XI. The skipper also dealt with recurring cramp and neck issues during the previous tour of England, and will have to deal with testing weather conditions in Sri Lanka during the Tests.
#2 Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2007-08
Team India were marred by injuries before and during the infamous 2007-08 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. The team needed a searing pace attack to make an impression Down Under, but were crippled early on as Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, and RP Singh were all dealing with injuries. The crisis was so severe that the selection of the squad was delayed entirely.
To make matters worse, opening batter Gautam Gambhir also failed to recover from a shoulder injury and was also ruled out of the tour entirely, leading to a recall for Virender Sehwag.
The injury nightmare continued for Team India as spearhead Zaheer Khan was ruled out of the series after featuring in the series opener, while Yuvraj Singh also sustained a major injury scare after hurting his knee during a football training session ahead of the third Test in Perth.
#3 ENG vs IND 2011 Test series
One of Team India’s dismal overseas showings ever, a 0-4 whitewash against England, was preceded by a mounting injury crisis which had affected their previous tour of the West Indies as well, a month earlier. The visitors were left without both their first-choice openers, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, as they were dealing with lingering injuries.
Even though both players eventually went on to make appearances during the tour in England, it ended up being a forgettable experience, with the former recording a king pair, and the latter sustaining a concussion. Emerging batter at the time, Cheteshwar Pujara, who was touted to play a role in the tour, was also ruled out due to a severe ACL injury.
All of these injuries to top-order batters forced India to make several, far from ideal, tweaks to their combination. Newcomer Abhinav Mukund was thrown into the deep end, and ended up having a horrid series while Rahul Dravid also had to function as a makeshift opener.
All of the workload from the intense 2011 ODI World Cup and the Indian Premier League (IPL) season had its effect on the team, as all of the slight injury issues ahead of the tour, exploded during the Tests. Zaheer Khan infamously broke down in the first Test at Lord’s itself, before being ruled out of the remainder of the series. Furthermore, the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, and Harbhajan Singh all suffered injuries over the course of the tour.
#4 BAN vs IND 2022 Test series
Team India were on course in the 2021-23 World Test Championship after a series draw in England followed by home series wins over New Zealand and Sri Lanka. However, they were met with an unexpected crisis ahead of the two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
India were without as many as four starting XI members as Rohit Sharma was ruled out due to a thumb injury he sustained during the preceding ODI series, while the seam bowling duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami were also unavailable. Ravindra Jadeja, who was set to play a vital role in the subcontinent assignment, also sustained an untimely injury.
India had to turn to KL Rahul to lead the team while bringing in some late, desperate reinforcements from domestic cricket like Abhimanyu Easwaran and Jaydev Unadkat. Although India ended up winning the series 2-0, it was far from a routine affair as they had to grind hard and dig deep for the wins.
#5 SA vs IND 2021-22 Tests
Team India’s red-ball unit, functioning at its peak under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, having made it to the 2021 WTC Final, were eyeing a historic first-ever series win on South African soil. However, the lead-up to the tour was hardly ideal. With tensions rising behind the scenes, friction between captain Virat Kohli and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, and new head coach Rahul Dravid settling in after taking over from Ravi Shastri, injuries were the last thing India needed.
However, star opener Rohit Sharma suffered a hamstring tear right before the tour and was ruled out. Ravindra Jadeja was also not considered after a serious ligament injury, while the other spin all-rounder Axar Patel also got injured.
Shubman Gill was also not available due to a chronic stress fracture injury he had sustained during the tour of England, earlier that year. Amid all the chaos, India had to use the likes of Mayank Agarwal and Ravichandran Ashwin in the playing XI for the series, with both players failing to make a profound impact in the series.
To add to the crisis, Virat Kohli was ruled out of the second Test due to a last-minute back spasm. Hanuma Vihari was brought in to fill the void in the middle order. In the end, the visitors ended up squandering a valuable 1-0 lead to lose the series, following which Virat Kohli stepped down as Test captain, ending his leadership era with the Indian team.
Edited by Gokul Nair