India-Bangladesh to visit Sri Lanka for triangular T20I series in March

Colombo: India and Bangladesh Cricket teams will be touring Sri Lanka in March 2018 for a triangular T20I series, which will also mark the celebration of 70^th year of independence of the island nation.

Confirming the same, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said that the three teams will play seven Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) from March 8 to March 20 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Revealing the structure of the fixture of the tri-nation series, the board said that all the teams will fight each other twice before the summit clash on March 20. The triangular series has been titled as Nidahas Trophy, and it will also mark the 70th year of the SLC.

Reacting on the same, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) CEO Rahul Johri stated that Sri Lanka and Bangladesh's Cricket boards are very close associates to them, therefore, they didn't think twice when SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala invited India for the series.

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"We are privileged to be a part of Sri Lanka's 70th year celebrations, there is no closer friend to the BCCI than Sri Lanka [and Bangladesh] and when Sumathipala first floated this invitation, there was almost instant agreement that the Indian Team would participate for this reason," Johri said.

Meanwhile, Sumathipala spilled beans over the importance of the tri-nation T20I series.

"Seventy years is a long journey, and one that needs to be commemorated and celebrated. We are happy that our closest neighbours, who share more or less the same journey of independence, are joining us in this celebration, which we believe will be a milestone and an augur of the great things to come in the annals of cricket," he said.

The Virat-Kohli-led side will travel to Sri Lanka after concluding their South Africa trip on February 24. India, currently, is hosting Sri Lanka in a three-match Test series with the first of them being played at the Eden Gardens ground in Kolkata.

The Test series will be followed by three One Day Internationals and three T20Is.