Three international teams to tour Sri Lanka in October and November

by Rex Clementine

While Sri Lanka’s national team will be engaged in the T-20 World Cup in UAE next month, there will be two international teams playing in Sri Lanka simultaneously with Bangladesh Under-19 and Pakistan ‘A’ expected to arrive in the island next month. That will be followed by the West Indies tour of Sri Lanka and Galle is set to host two Test matches followed by the Lanka Premier League in December. With the LPL set to finish on the 23rd of December, cricket will be stretched to Christmas week.

The sport had come to a standstill after the outbreak of the pandemic and Sri Lanka Cricket has taken steps to go ahead with planned series in bio-secure bubbles. SLC has conducted several bilateral international series deploying the bubble concept having hosted England and Bangladesh for Test cricket while South Africa and India were in Colombo for limited overs cricket this year.

Bangladesh Under-19 will arrive in Colombo next month and will play five one-dayers against their counterparts from the 15th to 25th of October. The venue for the games is yet to be confirmed.

Bangladesh Under-19 are the current world champions having won the ICC Youth World Cup last year beating a strong Indian side in the final.

This will be the first assignment for Avishka Gunawardene as Sri Lanka Under-19 coach. The series is expected to be a good exposure for the young players ahead of next year’s Under-19 World Cup.

Bangladesh Under-19 tour will be followed by Pakistan ‘A’ team, who will play two unofficial Tests at Pallekele and three One-Dayers. The venue for the 50 over games is not announced as yet.

This year Sri Lanka has played just three Test matches with the last being in May when they hosted Bangladesh at Pallekele. Two more Test matches are scheduled for November and December when the West Indies tour the island. The schedule is yet to be announced but the Tests are expected to take place in Galle.

The year will conclude with the Lanka Premier League that is set to take place from the 4th to to 23rd of December.

Sri Lanka Under-19 versus Bangladesh Under-19

15th October 1st One-Day

18th October 2nd One-Day

20th October 3rd One-Day

23rd October 4th One-Day

25th October 5th One-Day

Sri Lanka ‘A’ versus Pakistan ‘A’

28th to 31st October 1st Unofficial Test

4th November to 7th November 2nd Unofficial Test

10th November 1st One-Day

12th November 2nd One-Day

15th November 3rd One-Day

West Indies tour of Sri Lanka

Two Tests matches in November – December

Lanka Premier League

4th to 23rd December.