The Sri Lanka-India Test series will be played in the second half of August. The exact dates for the two Tests have not yet been finalised, but Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has identified a two-week window for the matches, which are part of the current ICC World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
Sources within Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have revealed to Cricbuzz that the matches will be played between August 15 and 27. There is, however, no confirmation yet on the three Twenty20 Internationals that were supposed to be added to the tour.
The two Tests follow the Lanka Premier League (LPL), which concludes on August 9 and the information about the identified window has been shared with all the stakeholders involved with the series, including the Indian team.
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has travelled to Sri Lanka as part of an International Cricket Council (ICC) delegation to assess the situation in Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), which was recently dissolved by the government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The government has since appointed an interim body, the Sri Lanka Cricket Transformation Committee.
There is a possibility that the Transformation Committee members may take up the proposed series with Saikia during his visit but identifying a window for the three games - originally proposed as a fundraiser for last November’s Cyclone Ditwah victims - could be a challenge because September will be a busy month for the Indian team(s).
A six-match white-ball series in Bangladesh - comprising three ODIs and three Twenty20 Internationals - has been planned for September. The proposed tour of Bangladesh, should it at all take place, could complicate matters for those involved in drawing schedules. Saikia refused to comment on whether the Bangladesh series would go ahead, suggesting during a recent media interaction that the focus should remain on the immediate fixtures.
The tour of Bangladesh is a carry-forward of last year’s postponed series, which was deferred because of tensions between the two countries. With the diplomatic frost between India and Bangladesh seemingly beginning to melt, it remains a matter of conjecture whether the series will eventually go ahead.
The Bangladesh tour, if it takes place, will be followed by a home series against the West Indies, which could in turn overlap with the September 9-October 4 Nagoya Asian Games - cricket to be played between September 25 and October 3. And amid all this, India are also scheduled to play three Twenty20 Internationals against Afghanistan in the United Arab Emirates in September itself.
India resume their international commitments on June 6 with a Test against Afghanistan in Mullanpur, followed by a three-match ODI series. The team will then tour Ireland, England and Zimbabwe before travelling to Sri Lanka.
Source: Cricbuzz
– Agencies
