India’s next campaign in the ongoing 2025/27 World Test Championship cycle has been confirmed, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) releasing the complete schedule for the upcoming two-match Test series in Sri Lanka. It will be India’s first tour of Sri Lanka in the red-ball format in eight years.
The series will get underway on August 15 with the first Test at Galle. The second Test will be held at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Colombo from August 23 to 27. BCCI and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had previously discussed the possibility of adding a white-ball fixture to India’s tour as well, but the media release from both boards made no mention of those matches.
This will be India’s first Test series in the island nation since 2017, two years before the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC) officially began. Virat Kohli was then the captain of the Indian Test team, where Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul opened the batting, and Hardik Pandya was still an all-rounder option in red-ball cricket, a format from which he removed himself a year later, owing to a struggle with back injuries.
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Much has changed in Indian cricket since that 2017 series, when India won 3-0. In fact, Kuldeep Yadav and KL Rahul are the only two players from that squad to remain active or in reckoning in the format now.
This will be India’s first Test series in the WTC cycle since the infamous 0-2 whitewash at home against South Africa last November. Shubman Gill’s side, however, did play a red-ball game after the resumption of international cricket post IPL 2026, having faced Afghanistan in a one-off game in Mullanpur last month, but the match was not part of the WTC cycle.
Overall, India have played three series in this WTC cycle thus far. They drew 2-2 in England last year, then beat the West Indies 2-0 at home in October, before losing to the Proteas. They stand fifth in the table with a PCT of 48.15 after four wins in nine games. Should India script a whitewash in Sri Lanka, a 1-0 win or a 1-1 draw, they will remain at the same position.
