India vs Sri Lanka: BCCI announces revised schedule for series, Bengaluru to host day-night Test

Sri Lanka tour of India: A pink-ball Test has been included in the revised schedule that was announced by the BCCI on Tuesday. The T20Is, starting February 24, will precede the Test match against the visiting islanders.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the revised schedule for the T20I and the Test series against Sri Lanka. As per the updated schedule, the T20Is will precede the Test series. India take on the islanders in 3 T20Is and 2 Tests from the last week of February across 4 venues in the country.

The BCCI also confirmed that Bengaluru will host the 2nd Test, which will be pink-ball match. It will only be the third pink-ball Test to be played in India after the matches against Bangladesh in 2019 and England in 2021.

Initially, Sri Lanka were set to begin their tour of India with the 2-Test series in Mohali on February 25 and then travel to Mohali for the 2nd Test from March 5. However, with Sri Lanka playing T20Is in Australia, the visitors will be able to do a bubble-to-bubble transfer of their T20i team members. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had reportedly requested the BCCI to change the schedule and precede the Tests with T20Is.

"Sri Lanka will first play the T20I series comprising three matches followed by a two-match Test series, which will be a part of the ICC World Test Championship, 2021-23," the BCCI said in a release.

Lucknow's Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium will host the first T20I on February 24 while the remaining 2 T20Is will be played in Dharmsala on February 26 and 27.

The first Test will now be held in Mohali from March 4 to 8 and the second Test will be played from March 12 to 16 in Bengaluru. Notably, Virat Kohli is expected to feature in his 100th Test in Mohali. The former captain was set to complete the landmark during India's tour of South Africa in January but he missed a Test in the 3-match series due to a back injury.

Sri Lanka tour of India, 2022