India to play 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is against Sri Lanka after WTC final

Team India will tour Sri Lanka for a limited-overs series in July. Three ODIs and five T20Is will be squeezed in between the World Test Championship (WTC) final in June and the 5-match Test series against England in August-September.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president and former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly revealed the news on Sunday. When asked whether the remainder of the IPL could be held in the almost month-long gap after the WTC final, Ganguly said that won't be possible because of the Sri Lankan tour.

"No. India is supposed to go to Sri Lanka for three ODIs and five T20Is. There are lots of organisational hazards like 14-day quarantine...This quarantine is tough to handle. Too early to say how we can find a slot to complete the IPL," Ganguly told Sportstar without revealing the schedule.

The news comes close on the heels of the postponement of IPL 2021 which saw Covid-19 cases breaching the bio-secure bubbles of the tournament. Virat Kohli's men were set to tour Sri Lanka in June 2020 for 3 ODIS and as many T20Is as part of the ICC World Cup Super League.

Finally India will play a series against Sri Lanka. This is first step by God to make us feel normal in this pandemic.

— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) May 9, 2021

However, that tour was postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic. The exact itinerary and squads for the upcoming trip are yet to be made public by both the BCCI and Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC).

What happened in India's last series against Sri Lanka?

Virat Kohli shakes hands with Kusal Perera after a 2019 World Cup game.

Sri Lanka visited India for three T20Is in early 2020 but had a disappointing series. The hosts won the second and third matches comfortably - by 78 runs and 7 wickets respectively - after the first match was abandoned due to rain.

The last time India and Sri Lanka met in an ODI game was in the 2019 World Cup, where tons from both Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul trumped Angelo Mathews' team by 7 wickets.

Sri Lanka National Team leaves for Bangladesh on the 16th May 2021 to take part in a 03 match ODI series.Match Fixture ⬇️https://t.co/miunFvCpPW

— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) May 5, 2021