The ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam will host the opening fixture of the ODI series on December 13, 2026, after the Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed a venue change for the first ODI of the Sri Lanka tour of India. The match had originally been assigned to the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
The Delhi and District Cricket Association approached the BCCI seeking a relocation of the match, citing two separate concerns. One was the risk of weather disruption affecting play on the scheduled date. The other was renovation work due at the Delhi ground, which made hosting an international fixture there on December 13 impractical. The BCCI accepted both grounds and formally designated Visakhapatnam as the replacement venue.
BCCI Honorary Secretary Devajit Saikia announced the revised arrangement, confirming the series opener would shift to the Andhra Cricket Association ground on the east coast.
Why was the first ODI moved out of Delhi?
The DDCA’s request rested on two distinct factors. Potential weather disruption at the Arun Jaitley Stadium during December posed a risk to the match being completed. Alongside that, the association had renovation work planned at the ground, making it unsuitable for an international fixture at that point in the calendar. With both considerations in place, the DDCA formally wrote to the BCCI, which agreed and confirmed the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium as the new host.
What does the full India vs Sri Lanka 2026 schedule look like?
The Sri Lanka tour of India 2026 comprises six matches in total, split equally between ODIs and T20 Internationals. The first ODI is now confirmed for December 13 at Visakhapatnam following the venue change. The second ODI follows on December 16 in Bengaluru, and the third ODI is scheduled for December 19 in Ahmedabad, with both those matches carrying a 2:00 PM start time.
The T20I leg opens on December 22 in Rajkot at 7:00 PM. The second T20I is fixed for December 24 in Cuttack, also at 7:00 PM. The tour concludes with the third T20I on December 27 in Pune, again at 7:00 PM, rounding off a busy six-match programme across six different venues.
