Another international cricket tour has been affected due to ongoing coronavirus pandemic as the upcoming India tour of Sri Lanka has reportedly been postponed. In this tour, India had the plan to play limited-overs series against the hosts.
According to the FTP schedule, India will tour in Sri Lanka in this month for the three-match ODI series and three-match T20I series respectively. The ODI series is also the part of the 2020–22 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the schedule for the India tour of Sri Lanka hasn’t been finalised yet. Observing the present situation, there was already very much assurance about the postponement of this forthcoming India tour of Sri Lanka. A Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) official has recently confirmed it to The Island.
While some of the Sri Lankan cricketers have already started training in Colombo from last Wednesday (3rd June), the SLC is planning to organise a domestic tournament in July before resuming the international cricket in September with the home Test series against Bangladesh.
The official told The Island, “What we are planning now is to play the domestic tournament in July and then perhaps to host Bangladesh in September.”
According to the initial plan, the Bangladesh would tour in Sri Lanka in July. However, the ongoing pandemic has forced to postpone this FTP schedule too.
A BCCI official earlier hinted the postponement of the upcoming India tour of Sri Lanka
The SLC recently sent the invitations to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) for their forthcoming planned tours, which they could start from mid-July. While the BCCI hasn’t reacted on it officially yet, a BCCI official had earlier hinted that the tour could be organised in a few months later as it was almost impossible to conduct in mid-July.
While the Indian government is now looking at easing the lockdown process, the BCCI is now thinking to resume the training process for the cricketers after considering every safety measure. Meanwhile, the Indian fielding coach R Sridhar has recently claimed that the players require four to six weeks to get ready for the match.