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On July 2, 2026, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officially confirmed the schedule for the India National Cricket Team tour of Sri Lanka 2026.
SLC released an official statement, confirming that the Shubman Gill-led India National Cricket Team will be playing a two-match Test series in Sri Lanka in the month of August.
India tour of Sri Lanka schedule revealed
The two-match Test series between the Lankan Lions and Shubman Gill & Co. will be part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-2027 cycle.
Galle International Cricket Stadium (GICS) will host the first Test match from August 15, while the second match will be played from August 23 at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC), Colombo. This will be India's first Test series in the island nation since 2017.
There were talks to arrange a T20I series between India and Sri Lanka
There were speculations about a possible three-match T20I series in the tour, but it remains limited to the 2-match Test series. According to Cricbuzz, both of the national cricket boards were in talks to add a T20I contest, which eventually did not prove fruitful.
"The two boards had previously discussed the possibility of adding three T20Is to the tour, but Sri Lanka Cricket's (SLC) media release makes no mention of those matches," Cricbuzz mentioned in their report on July 2.
The first Test will be played at the Galle International Cricket Stadium (GICS), Galle, while the second Test will be played at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC), Colombo, as Sri Lanka Cricket mentioned in their official press release on July 2. Both of the matches will start at 10 AM.
For the Test series, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will have to announce the team for the Tests in Sri Lanka. In their previous Test series, which was against Afghanistan, the Men in Blue, under the leadership of Shubman Gill, presented a flourishing performance in both of the Tests against Afghanistan.
India will try to keep their domination in the format
Across all of the departments, India looked far superior to the Afghanistan cricket team in the home Test series. The same can be expected when they face Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, where the pitches mostly favor the spinners. However, batters may have to face some difficulties because of those spin-friendly surfaces.
The upcoming Test series is going to be very crucial for the Indian cricket team as they are still in the race to qualify for the finals of the ongoing cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC), after two runner-up finishes. They are currently at the fifth position in the 2025-27 standings, with Sri Lanka sixth.
Last time, back in 2017, when Team India visited the Island nation for a Test series, they clean swept the series with a 3-0 scoreline.
India will also tour New Zealand this year for a two-match Test series in November-December. Ahead of that, it will be crucial for the team to maintain momentum, which will help them to boost the confidence of the players.
