Sri Lanka’s cricketers who recently concluded their red and white-ball engagements with Australia, will be having a respite from international cricket for the remaining five-month period till Bangladesh comes calling into this neck of the woods.
The unprecedented hiatus from the international game for the islanders, has come about due to the scheduling complexities of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Future Tours Programme (FTP).
As per the FTP, Sri Lanka is next slated to host their South Asian neighbours in June-July for two Tests and three ODIs and T20Is, with the two red-ball games being part of the next ICC World Test Championship (WTP) cycle for 2025-27.
Sri Lanka has also been forced to kick their heels in isolation for the next 150-days or so, as they failed to qualify for this year’s Champions Trophy which starts today (19) in Pakistan, following their abject placement during the 2023 ICC Men’s ODI world Cup in India.
Adding to the forlorn situation of the Lankans, is international cricket coming to halt during the months of April-May due to the staging of the world’s foremost annual domestic T20 extravaganza-the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Thus far in 2025, Sri Lanka have had mixed results in all three formats of the game. They commenced the year by losing both the One-Day International and T20I series by similar score-lines of 2-1 to New Zealand in New Zealand.
Upon their return home, the Test squad underwent more misery being whitewashed 2-0 by Pat Cummins-less Australia, which was also spiced with their worst loss in the history of the established game-a whopping innings and 242-run defeat in the first Test.
But, the white-ball outfit returned the favour in no small measure in the ensuing two-match ODI series to the weakened tourists by sweeping the series 2-0.
The hosts dished out a reality-check to the One-day world champions before the start of the Champions Trophy, with a famous 174-run hiding in the second and final match being the icing on the cake.
Looking ahead following the home assignment against Nazmul Hossain Shanto’s men, Sri Lanka will be in action regularly on the international circuit commencing with the white-ball tour of Zimbabwe (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is) in August-September.
In October this year, Sri Lanka will be competing in the Asia Cup alongside the likes of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, UAE and hosts India.
Ireland will then arrive on these shores in October-November for another white-ball series (3 ODIs 3 T20Is) while upon its conclusion Charith Asalanka’s team will head to Pakistan for three ODIs and a similar number of T20Is.
This particular tour will complete the national team’s international engagements for 2025 and they will kick off 2026 by hosting England for three One-Day Internationals and T20Is in January.
(JK)