Pink-ball Test against Sri Lanka will be hosted in Bengaluru, says Sourav Ganguly

India will play a pink-ball Test against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly has said. Ganguly said that while the rest of the venues for Sri Lanka’s tour in February and March is yet to be finalised, Bengaluru will host the pink-ball Test.

“Yes, the pink-ball Test will be happening in Bengaluru. We have not decided on all the venues for the Sri Lanka series yet, but it will be announced shortly,” Ganguly told Sportstar.

It will be the third pink-ball Test to be played in India and the fourth that the team will play overall. India hosted their first pink-ball Test against Bangladesh in Kolkata in November 2019. They won the match by an innings and 46 runs. They then beat England by 10 wickets in the second pink-ball Test hosted in the country in February 2021 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

India also played Australia in Adelaide in their first and thus far only pink-ball Test away from home in December 2020. They lost the match by eight wickets.

India will host the West Indies for three ODIs and three T20Is before Sri Lanka’s tour. The ODI series will include India’s 1000th ODI but it will be played in an empty stadium in Ahmedabad.

“I was the captain of India in the 500th ODI (against England at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street on July 4, 2002). It is a big moment for Indian cricket, but unfortunately, the match will be played without a crowd. The series, too, will be played in empty stadiums. It could have been done in a much better way had there been no Covid-19, but you cannot help it,” said Ganguly.

“Due to Covid-19 restrictions, we can’t really plan anything for this iconic fixture.”