India's White-Ball Tour To Sri Lanka To Begin From July 26, Gautam Gambhir To Make Coaching Debut

The India's tour of Sri Lanka will be starting from July 26 onwards, with the tour starting with a three-match T20I series. The tour will also consist of a three-match ODI series, which will kickstart from August 1 onwards. The Pallekele International Stadium will be hosting the T20I leg of the series while the R Premadasa is getting to host the 50-over matches, announced BCCI. The first T20I will take place on July 26, followed by the second one on July 27 and the final one on July 29.

Both teams will be taking to the field with new head coaches. While legendary all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya has been named as the interim head coach for Lankans, this will also be the first assignment for former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir as the head coach, succeeding the T20 World Cup winning coach Rahul Dravid.

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Fixtures for the upcoming India tour of Sri Lanka announced! #TeamIndia | #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/6HmvJXHprH

India's last tour of Sri Lanka for a bilateral white-ball series came back in July 2021, with Dravid coaching the Shikhar Dhawan led side. India won the ODI series 2-1 while Sri Lanka secured the T20I series with same margin.

This will be India's second T20I series after their T20 World Cup win, defeating South Africa by seven runs in the final. Currently, a new-look India side, led by Shubman Gill and coached by VVS Laxman is on a tour to Zimbabwe for a five-match T20I series. The series is currently in India's hands by 2-1, with the fourth T20I set to be played on Saturday at Harare.

On the other hand, the T20 World Cup was poor for Sri Lanka as they failed to reach the Super Eights. They lost to South Africa and Bangladesh in the group stage and could only register one win against the Netherlands. Their game