Sri Lanka to compensate for West Indies pull out, accept BCCI's offer

Angelo Mathews – Sri Lankan ODI captain 

Sri Lankan Cricket Board (SLC) chief Nishantha Ranatunga has confirmed that Sri Lanka have accepted the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) invitation to tour India. The arrangement has been made by the Indian cricket board to avoid commerical losses following the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) decision to pull out midway from the ongoing series in India.

West Indies, earlier today, had conveyed the BCCI that they wouldn’t be able to continue the remainder of the tour as a result of a long drawn pay dispute with their cricketers, requesting their team to be sent back home. The tour –  which was supposed to feature 5 ODIs, 1 T20I and 3 Tests – has now been cut short with just 4 ODIs played; the 3rd of which, scheduled to take place at Visakhapatnam, was abandoned due to cyclone Hudhud that had caused severe damage in the city.

The Islanders will now play 5 ODIs between November 1 and 15. Ranatunga also revealed that while the BCCI had asked them to play a T20I, the SLC felt that – with the World Cup 2015 nearing –  it would be beneficial to play 5 ODIs instead. 

ESPNcricnfo reported the SLC chief as saying, “In principal we have agreed to accept India's invitation to play five one-day internationals. Initially India wanted us to play a T20 international as well but we decided that with the World Cup only a few months away playing five ODIs would be beneficial to both teams." 

The ODI series between India and West Indies is currently tied at 1-1, with the winner of today’s match at Dharmasala winning the series, as well.