Sri Lanka men's cricket team

Updated: 14 November 2026

Short answer: Sri Lanka, governed by Sri Lanka Cricket, became the eighth Test nation in 1981 and won the 1996 World Cup, the 2014 T20 World Cup and a shared 2002 Champions Trophy. They tour India from 13 to 27 December 2026 for three ODIs (Visakhapatnam, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad) and three T20Is (Rajkot, Cuttack, Pune).

Short history

Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) became an ICC Associate in 1965, played in the first World Cup in 1975, and were given Test status in 1981, playing their first Test against England in Colombo in February 1982. Their rise in the 1990s ended with the 1996 World Cup title. They shared the 2002 Champions Trophy with India after the final was washed out, won the 2014 T20 World Cup against India, and were World Cup runners-up in 2007 and 2011. Sri Lanka hold the record for the highest team total in Test cricket.

Sri Lanka in India (our general view)

Sri Lankan batters grow up on slow, turning pitches, so Indian conditions are less foreign to them than to most visitors. Their attack has usually leaned on spin and on varied, skiddy seam bowling rather than raw pace. On the December 2026 tour, the bigger variable may be the weather: the ODIs start at 14:00 and the T20Is at 19:00, and several venues have humid December evenings.

December 2026 tour at a glance

Read the full series guide for every match, venue and dew indicator. The ODIs are at Visakhapatnam, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad; the T20Is at Rajkot, Cuttack and Pune.

Fantasy angle (our general view)

Sri Lanka's spinners can matter on slower Indian pitches, but in dewy second innings they face the same wet-ball problem as everyone else. Their top-order batters are the main source of points when they bat first. Squads will be listed on each match page once published.