India tour of Sri Lanka in June officially postponed; SLC hopeful of series happening in August

Team India was expected to tour Sri Lanka for three ODIs and as many T20Is in June. The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had requested the BCCI to send the team citing that they will follow all the guidelines to keep the players safe from the Coronavirus. However, after several speculations, the tour has been postponed.

The series was originally scheduled to be played in June and the SLC was hopeful that the BCCI would agree to tour given that there are not many COVID-19 cases in the island nation. It was also reported recently that the Indian board has agreed to travel Sri Lanka for the series.

But if ESPNCricinfo is to be believed, the tour is not going ahead as scheduled and the wait for the fans to see the Men in Blue back on the field continues. The boards are still working out a plan to make the series happen in August. “The India national team tour of Sri Lanka, which was scheduled to take place during the month of June, 2020 will not go ahead, as scheduled.

“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) informed Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) that due to the prevailing circumstances revolving around Covid-19 pandemic, the cricket series, which included three ODIs and three T20I matches will not be feasible,” the SLC media release read.

When will team India play?

Virat Kohli and his men last played during the New Zealand tour in March. They were then scheduled to feature in a three-match ODI series against South Africa at home. But the COVID-19 threat led to the series getting postponed and since then, the long wait still hasn’t ended.

It seems that it will take some more time for team India to return to the field given the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country. Even the support staff of the team has cleared that the players will need around 8-12 weeks to gain match fitness again. According to it, the Indian cricketers can only return to the international arena after August it seems.

Moreover, there is also a possibility of the Indian Premier League (IPL) taking place later this year and that could prove to be their comeback on the field and not international cricket. They are also scheduled to tour Australia for three T20Is, four Tests and three ODIs with the first match on the tour to be played in October according to the schedule released. However, Cricket Australia (CA) has already hinted that the schedule may change with the situation.