Sri Lanka will begin their ICC World Test Championship 2021-2023 cycle in Galle against West Indies in November, ThePapare learns.
Sri Lanka is expected to play two Test matches against the Windies, starting from the 21st of November at the picturesque Galle International Cricket Stadium. The first Test is expected to be played from 21st to 25th November, while the second match will be from 28th November to 2nd December.
Hub: Sri Lanka v West Indies 2021
Sri Lanka finished seventh in the last cycle from 2019-2021, while West Indies ended in the eighth place. While the champions, New Zealand won a cash prize of 1.6 Million USD in the previous cycle, both Sri Lanka and West Indies won only 100,000 USD as ICC handed cash prizes worth of 3.8 Million USD in total. In the previous cycle, West Indies hosted Sri Lanka for two Tests, which ended in a 0-0 draw in March/April earlier this year.
Read: ICC to stick with percentage of points system for World Test Championship
This will also be Sri Lanka’s first international assignment soon after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 ends on the 14th of November in the UAE. Whilst the T20 squads will be fully focused on the 16-team tournament from 17th October to 14th November, the red-ball specialists from both countries will commence training next month.
Soon after the West Indies series, SLC will commence the Lanka Premier League 2nd edition which is slated to be played from 4th to 23rd December.
Read: Sri Lanka’s next World Test Championship match-ups released
It will be interesting to see whether the selectors will include the Lankan red-ball specialists Test Captain Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Embuldeniya and Angelo Mathews in the upcoming two-match unofficial Test match series against Pakistan ‘A’ as preparation for the Windies series. The Pakistan ‘A’ team is set to play two four-day matches and five 50-over games from 28th October in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Fixtures in ICC World Test Championship 2021-2023
- vs West Indies: 2 Tests (Home) – November/December 2021
- vs India: 2 Tests (Away) – February/March 2022
- vs Bangladesh: 2 Tests (Away) – May 2022
- vs Australia: 2 Tests (Home) – June/July 2022
- vs Pakistan: 2 Tests (Home) – July/August 2022
- vs New Zealand: 2 Tests (Away) – November/December 2022
