Owing to the COVID-19 positive cases observed in the Sri Lankan team camp, India’s limited-overs series in the Island nation was postponed on Friday and will now have a delayed start.
This was a prudent call taken by Sri Lanka Cricket in communication with the BCCI, as the host board wanted its personnel to go through an extended quarantine to ensure everyone’s safety. Since the quarantine will last till near the eve of the opening ODI on July 13 as per the original schedule, it made sense to give the home team more time to recover and practise before taking the field.
Sri Lanka’s batting coach Grant Flower and a team analyst gave positive tests upon their return from the white-ball assignment in England. And with the players deemed in their close contact, the SLC was forced to ask everyone to isolate themselves.
The SLC will announce the revised schedule to the BCCI and convey the same to the broadcasters on Saturday.
Speaking to the PTI, a BCCI official privy to the developments confirmed that the series is being rescheduled and will start on July 17.
“Yes, the series will now start from July 17 instead of 13th. The decision was taken in consultation with SLC keeping the safety and security of players in mind,”
the official was quoted as saying.
July 19 and 21 are being seen as the tentative dates for the second and third ODIs, followed by the three T20Is from July 24.
The ODI series is an important part of both the countries’ ICC Super League campaigns. The league determines direct qualification spots for the 2023 World Cup in India. The T20I series also carries great weightage as both sides look to fine-tune their preparations towards this year’s T20 World Cup in UAE.
This will be India’s first visit to the island nation since their Nidahasa Trophy tri-series victory back in early 2018. Prior to which their last bilateral assignment to Sri Lanka came in the summer of 2017 when the tourists whitewashed the struggling hosts 3-0 in Tests, 5-0 in ODIs and also won the solitary T20I that was held.
They’ve named experienced opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan as their captain for the trip, with veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar as his deputy. India’s fresh-looking squad also features quite a few uncapped talented players, who have done well domestically and in the IPL.
With the pandemic and health regulations limiting the ease of travel, India had no option but to name an alternative touring party to Sri Lanka, with the regular names currently in UK for their elongated Test tour.
Having played the World Test Championship final against New Zealand, Virat Kohli and company are in England on a short break and will reassemble on July 14 in Durham to kickstart their preparations for the five-Test series against England, starting August 4 in Trent Bridge.
Lord’s (August 12-16), Headingley (August 25-29), The Oval (September 2-6) and Manchester (August 10-14) will host the next four Test matches of what will be India’s first series in the second cycle of the WTC.
While Test stars go through their prep for the tussle against the English, the limited-overs ones in Sri Lanka will take on the hapless hosts for three ODIs & T20Is under Dhawan’s leadership.
Former India captain and legendary batsman Rahul Dravid has been appointed the interim head coach of the side. Not originally part of the calendar, the series against Sri Lanka was confirmed in May by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.
