Sri Lanka Cricket yesterday confirmed the Indian cricket series which will commence from February 24 with three T20 matches followed by two Test matches and one of the Test matches is a day-night affair, pink ball game.

The first of three T20 matches will be played in Lucknow on February 24 followed by two games at Dharamsala on February 26 and 27.

India revised the schedule for the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka, bringing the Twenty20 internationals forward to precede the two Tests on the request of SLC.

This change was done after SLC’s request to allow a smoother bubble-to-bubble transfer of their T20I squad, which will have concluded a series in Melbourne, Australia just four days ahead of the first T20I against India. Also, ending the tour in Bengaluru facilitates visiting the Sri Lanka side with direct connectivity to Colombo.

The tour was initially planned to begin with the first two T20Is in Dharamsala, before the BCCI confirmed the change in the venue last Tuesday.

The venues for the two Tests were also reversed, with the first Test which will be –Virat Kohli’s 100th match – to be held in the north Indian city of Mohali on March 4.

The second Test will be a day-night affair to be played in Bangalore from March 12.

This will only be India’s third day-night Test at home – they hosted Bangladesh in 2019 and England in 2021 – and their fourth overall, the same number as Sri Lanka. Both teams have won two and lost one of their three day-night Tests so far.

Rohit Sharma, India’s new white ball skipper is expected to lead India in the T-20 series while the Indian Test skipper is yet to be announced after Kholi’s resignation last month.

Last year India sent a new look T20 side captained by Shikhar Dhawan for the Sri Lanka T20 series which Sri Lanka won by 2-1. However, this time India is looking to play with their experienced players to focus on the next T20 World Cup.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan champion leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga who tested positive for COVID-19 last Wednesday also missed the last two Australia T-20 matches in Melbourne but Hasaranga will consider the Indian T-20 series. In addition power hitter Bhanuka Rajapaksa also passed his fitness test recently also consider for the next Indian T-20 series and Sri Lanka will more focus on their top order after failing during the Australian T- 20 series. In addition, selectors also have an idea to look at senior players like Angelo Matthews, Lahiru Thirimanne for the Test series which will be led by Dimuth Karunaratne.

Sri Lanka India revised Schedule

1st T20 February 24  in Lucknow

2nd T20 February 26 in Dharmasala

3rd T20 February 27 in Dharmasala

1st Test March 4-8 – Mohali 2nd Test March12-16 – Bengaluru