India vs Sri Lanka limited-overs series rescheduled as COVID crisis hits Sri Lankan camp

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Colombo, July 9: The upcoming limited-overs series between India and Sri Lanka has been rescheduled after the Sri Lankan camp was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India President Sourav Ganguly confirmed that the three-match ODI and T20I series, which was scheduled to begin on July 13 has been now put off to July 18.

The host board wishes the players to serve an extended period of quarantine for its personnel.

Sri Lanka's batting coach Grant Flower tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday (July 8), 48 hours after the squad's arrival from England and less than a week before the home series against India. Flower has been isolated from the rest of the squad which is undergoing hard quarantine on arrival.

"Batting Coach of the Sri Lanka National Team Grant Flower has tested positive for COVID-19," Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said in a statement.

"He was found to be positive during a PCR test carried out on him today when Flower showed mild symptoms of the disease. Immediately upon identification, Flower was isolated from the rest of the team members (players and coaches) who're undergoing quarantine following their return from England," it further stated.

The SLC said Flower is "now undergoing due medical protocols." All the other players who are quarantining have also been tested. Flower is a former Zimbabwe batting great and was with the team in England where it lost both the T20 International and ODI series.

All-rounder Dasun Shanaka is all set to replace Kusal Perera as the captain of Sri Lanka ahead of the ODI and T20 series against India.

The Sri Lankan players were locked in a longstanding row with the SLC over national contracts which ended on Wednesday after 29 out of the 30 players signed up for the India series.

It is believed that Perera was the one who had "encouraged the group to continue holding out", while "Shanaka it seems had been among the first to agree to sign Sri Lanka Cricket's tour contracts".