India-Sri Lanka T20 series schedule announced, Pune's MCA Stadium to host a T20I

Modified Mar 01, 2016 18:53 IST

India and Sri Lanka’s regular T20 captains MS Dhoni and Lasith Malinga

India and Sri Lanka are set to lock horns in a series of three T20Is in February, the schedule of which has been announced. The teams will face off in the series before heading to the Asia Cup later in the month and then to the World T20 in March.

Also read: India vs Sri Lanka head to head in T20 Internationals [Records]

The first Twenty20 will be played at Pune on February 9, Delhi will hold the second game on February 12 and the final T20 will be played at Vishakhapatnam on February 14.

Pune's Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, which acquired Test status only in November last year, will host only its third international match and its second ever international Twenty20 match.

India will stay in Australia till January 31, will play Sri Lanka from February 9 to 14, will go to Bangladesh on 24 February. In what promises to be a packed T20 calendar, they will only get a gap of a couple of days before returning home for the World Cup campaign which starts on March 8.

Battle of two teams looking to recover

"BCCI announced the venues for the three T20s against Sri Lanka in February 2016, before the World T20 which will be played in India. Sri Lanka T20s to be played in Visakhapatnam, Pune and Delhi," Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said on Wednesday (January 20).

"Sri Lanka will travel to India for three T20 internationals in February next year prior to the Asia Cup and the World Twenty20," it added.

India are currently playing in Australia. They are involved in a 5-match ODI series. That will be followed by 3 T20Is against the hosts. The tour ends on January 31.

India, though coming up with superlative batting performances, have managed to go down to Australia four out of four times already in the ODI series, and it can be expected that a home series against Sri Lanka will be an easier battle to find.

Sri Lanka have also been handed a drubbing in New Zealand recently, and also find themselves embroiled in several off-field scandals. The February tour promises to be a encounter between two teams looking to pick themselves up from defeats, with the composition of the Indian team putting them at an advantage.