Indian women set to tour Sri Lanka, England

TOI has learnt that the India women's team is set to tour Sri Lanka and England to play limited overs games in the forthcoming months, besides taking part in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The icing on the cake for Mithali Raj & Co will be a rare chance to play an ODI (final game of the tour) at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground on September 24. The India women's team didn't play at Lord's during their all-format tour last year.

All these ODIs will be crucial for the side as they will count towards qualification for the next Women's ODI World Cup. The team will play three ODIs and an equal number of T20Is on their tour of Sri Lanka, with all the games set to be held at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy. "The team will arrive in Sri Lanka on June 18.

The first ODI is scheduled to take place on June 23, while the first T20I will be held on July 3. The tour will end with the last T20I on July 7," a reliable source in the BCCI told this paper. The team for this tour is likely to be picked by the end of this month.

The BCCI isn't worried by the current civilian unrest in Sri Lanka. "Even the Australian men's cricket team is touring Lanka around the same time. So cricket shouldn't be affected by that," the source said.

Post the CWG, India will tour England to play three T20Is, followed by three ODIs, with the marquee game at Lord's on Sept 24 being the last match of the trip. Unfortunately, they would not play a Test against the hosts this time. "The BCCI requested the English Cricket Board to schedule a Test, but ECB couldn't accede to the request, citing a busy schedule, which includes the 'Hundred' too, for them," the source said.