India Tour Of Sri Lanka Officially Postponed
Jun 11, 2020 at 10:01 PM
India tour of Sri Lanka, which was originally planned in this month, has been officially postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In this tour, the Indian team would play the limited-overs bilateral series against the hosts.
According to the FTP schedule, the Men in Blue would play three-match ODI series and three-match T20I series in this Sri Lanka tour. The ODI series is the part of the 2020–22 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League.
But as the COVID-19 or coronavirus is dominating the world, both the boards, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have agreed to postpone this FTP schedule.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the SLC was not able to schedule the home limited-overs series against India. In their press release on Thursday (11th June), the SLC has clarified that the BCCI is committed to following the FTP schedule but denied touring in Sri Lanka in this month due to the present circumstance and following their government’s advice.
SLC quoted the BCCI statement, “Although, BCCI remains committed to the FTP and towards its fellow members, it will have to seek the advice from Government of India and the health regulatory authorities before taking any decision for the resumption of Cricket.”
According to the earlier media reports, the SLC recently sent the invitations to the BCCI and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to host them to maintain the FTP schedule but from mid-July. The Bangladesh tour of Sri Lanka is also likely to be postponed as some of the Bangladesh cricketers have shown their disinterest to tour in Sri Lanka in the present situation.
India can tour in Sri Lanka in August: Report
On the other hand, according to some latest media reports, the BCCI has agreed to tour in Sri Lanka in this August to maintain the FTP schedule. The SLC is now waiting for the permission of the country’s Ministry of Sports. However, there is no official call on this report yet.
India last played their international match in early March during their tour in New Zealand. In the middle of the March, South Africa landed India for the three-match ODI series, but while the first game was abandoned due to the rain-washout, the next two matches were postponed amid coronavirus outbreak.