India's tour of Sri Lanka called off due to COVID-19

India were scheduled to play three ODIs and as many T20s starting June end and continuing till July in Sri Lanka. The dates for the matches had not yet been finalised.

Hyderabad: India's upcoming limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka was on Thursday called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic with both the Boards saying that the situation is not feasible for the games to go ahead.

The International Cricket Council announced the news on social media and it is reported that the of Board Control for Cricket in India informed Sri Lanka cricket that it is not feasible for the players to tour Sri Lanka due to the prevailing circumstances revolving around the novel coronavirus.

“India’s tour to Sri Lanka, which was scheduled to take place later this month, has become the latest series to be postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said ICC in a tweet.

India were scheduled to play three ODIs and as many T20s starting June end and continuing till July in Sri Lanka. The dates for the matches had not yet been finalised.

"It is not possible to tour Sri Lanka in July in the current scenario," the source told a leading news agency.

BCCI

A media release from Sri Lanka also confirmed the development.

"The BCCI informed Sri Lanka Cricket that due to the prevailing circumstances revolving around COVID-19 pandemic, the cricket series, which included 3 ODIs and 3 T20I matches will not be feasible," the SLC stated.

SLC

The cancellation was expected as Indian players are yet to resume training with cases continuing to rise rapidly in the country, which has recorded more than 8,000 COVID-19 deaths and close to three lakh cases.

The players will need four to six weeks to regain match fitness after training resumes. However, both the boards remain committed to the series and having it in August is a possibility.