The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has rescheduled India's home series against Sri Lanka which will now commence from February 24 where three T20Is and two Test matches will be played amongst them.
The second Test match (Day-Night) will be played in Bengaluru from March 12 to March 16 and Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) is gearing up to host the match with all excitement.
Twenty-six years later, the long-lasting stadium is being readied for one more slice of historical past – its maiden Day-Night Test match. The second Test between India and Sri Lanka was on Tuesday (February 15) confirmed as a pink-ball contest by the BCCI. With Covid-19 restrictions in place, the Karnataka State Cricket Association is hoping the state of affairs will enhance and maximum spectators will likely be allowed to witness the landmark contest.
KSCA's secretary Santosh Menon while talking to Sports Tak said, "We all are very excited about this match as this is the third time when pink ball Test is happening in our country and we all are well prepared for this historic match being played at M Chinnaswamy stadium. We would like to make it a memorable experience for the players as well as fans. We will approach the state government to discuss crowd capacity. Hopefully the Covid-19 cases will recede and normalcy will return."
"We view this match as an opportunity to give back to society and would like to have CSR activities during the match for government school students, jawans and children in orphanages. We have new light towers installed here so that this is going to be a smooth functioning," he added.
This would be the third ever D/N Test within the nation after Kolkata hosted the primary in 2019 towards Bangladesh adopted by Ahmedabad in February 2021 (towards England).
Meanwhile, the first Test will be held in Mohali from March 4 to March 8.
Initially, Sri Lanka were set to begin their tour of India with the 2-Test series in Mohali on February 25 and then travel to Mohali for the 2nd Test from March 5. However, with Sri Lanka playing T20Is in Australia, the visitors will be able to do a bubble-to-bubble transfer of their T20i team members. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had reportedly requested the BCCI to change the schedule and precede the Tests with T20Is.
India vs Sri Lanka revised schedule:
1st T20I: 24th February, Lucknow
2nd T20I: 26th February, Dharamsala
3rd T20I: 27th February, Dharamsala
1st Test: March 4-8, Mohali
2nd Test (D/N): March 12-16, Bengaluru
