Sri Lanka Cricket had requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to play 2 charity matches. Sri Lanka Cricket wanted to play this T20 match to help the people affected by Cyclone ‘Ditwa’ in December, however, due to commercial reasons, BCCI rejected this proposal. However, the Indian team’s tour of Sri Lanka in August will remain as per the schedule. India will play a series of 2 Test and 2 T20 matches on this tour.

Why did BCCI reject the proposal?

Speaking to reporters, Sri Lanka Cricket President Shammi Silva said that they had discussed the plan to play 2 charity matches to help the victims of cyclone ‘Ditwa’ on 27th and 29th of December. But, they could not finalize the business arrangements on time. Let us tell you that due to this cyclone, there was a loss of about 1.6 billion US dollars in Sri Lanka, 600 people also died.

India will visit Sri Lanka in August

Shammi Silva also clarified that the Indian team’s tour of Sri Lanka in August will remain as per the schedule. 2 Test matches will be played in this tour, which will be part of the World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle. There is no test series for India before this. There will also be 2 T20 International matches on this tour.

Sri Lanka Cricket will also donate the income from the 3 T20 match series against Pakistan next week to the Cyclone Relief Fund. These matches will be played in Dambulla.

Sri Lanka busy in preparations for T20 World Cup

T20 World Cup 2026 will start from 7th February, along with India, Sri Lanka is also its host. Pakistan will play all its matches in Sri Lanka, all the matches of Group B will be held in Sri Lanka. If Pakistan team reaches the final then the title match will also be played in Colombo. A total of 20 teams will participate in the T20 World Cup 2026, which have been divided into 4 groups of 5 each.