Sri Lanka vs India series rescheduled, to start on 18th July: Reports

The start of ODI series between Sri Lanka and India, scheduled for July 13th is now shifted to 18th. News agency PTI quoted BCCI secretary Jay Shah, "India-Sri Lanka ODI series to start on July 18 due to Covid-19 outbreak in-home team camp.”

The decision comes after several players in the Sri Lankan camp tested positive for Covid-19. Sri Lanka’s batting coach Grant Flower was the first to contract the virus upon his return from England. Team’s data analyst GT Niroshan too returned a positive result a day later.

Various media reports have claimed that Sri Lanka have a contingency squad on standby in Dambulla. On Monday, the Sri Lankan players will undergo RT-PCR tests and if cleared, they will enter the series bio-bubble.

Earlier, Sri Lanka had shown a strict stance in managing the bio bubble and sent back three players from their tour of England for breaching the bio-bubble. The trio -- Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka and Niroshan Dickwella – were dropped from the series against India as well.

India are scheduled to play three ODIs and as many T20Is against the hosts. As per the new schedule, the three ODIs will now be on July 18, July 20, and July 23. The T20I series will begin from July 25 followed by the next two matches on July 27 and July 29.