Sri Lanka’s seven week tour of India got off to a stumbling start on Wednesday (November 8) as the team’s batting coach Thilan Samaraweera didn’t get his visa on time to fly with the team.
The Sri Lankan team arrived in Kolkata on Wednesday morning but Samaraweera had to stay back home to wait for his visa.
Samaraweera was confirmed as Sri Lanka’s batting coach on November 4 and the former middle order batsman, who lives in Melbourne, arrived in Colombo on Monday.
With the team scheduled to leave on Wednesday, Samaraweera wasn’t able to conduct any training sessions but was expected to catch up as there were eight days prior to the first Test at the Eden Gardens. A spokesman for SLC told Cricbuzz that he was hopeful that Samaraweera would get his visa by Friday.
The first Test will get underway at the Eden Gardens on the November 16. Prior to that, Sri Lanka will play a two day warm-up game against a BCCI XI on the 11th and 12th of November.
This is Sri Lanka’s first Test tour to India in eight years. Their winless Test record in the country is well documented, with the 17 Tests so far resulting in 10 defeats and seven draws.
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