With a home series against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka will begin their preparations for the T20 World Cup. The three-match T20I series, which consists of three ODIs and three T20Is, would be the first bilateral T20I match between the two sides in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, it will mark the first ODI series between these two teams on the island since January 2022.
Sri Lanka, ranked seventh in the ICC ODI rankings, will try to sort things out against Zimbabwe, ranked eleventh, who lost to Uganda in the just-finished ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Region Qualifier 2023 in Namibia and so did not qualify for the next T20 World Cup.
Sri Lanka played just six Twenty20 internationals this year, winning two at home against Ireland and losing four against New Zealand and Pakistan, as ODIs took precedence over T20Is because of the 50-over World Cup. The series against Zimbabwe will take place at Colombo’s R Premadasa Stadium, with ODIs on January 6, 8, and 11 and T20Is on January 14, 16, and 18. The Under-19 World Cup was moved to South Africa, so the matches that were originally scheduled for Dambulla and Kandy were moved to Colombo.
With lopsided losses in the Asia Cup 2023 and a failure to advance to the ODI World Cup semifinals, Sri Lanka’s performances have fallen short of expectations. In order to delight cricket fans worldwide, the Sri Lankan team would be keen to move on from their recent errors and find their form.
Because Zimbabwe has some excellent T20-format players, such as Sikandar Raza, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, and Ryan Burl, this series is expected to be tough and difficult for the Lankans, even though Zimbabwe is ranked far lower. In T20Is, Sri Lanka is ranked eighth, and Zimbabwe is ranked thirteenth. These are noteworthy statistics.
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