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Xtra Time Web Desk: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said that the Indian team will be touring Sri Lanka in July for ODI and T20I series. The tour will go ahead simultaneously with the England tour. The test players will not be part of the white ball series against Sri Lanka.

 “We have planned a white ball series for the senior men’s team during the month of July where they will play T20 Internationals and ODIs in Sri Lanka,” Ganguly told PTI.

On being asked how will the BCCI segregate the two teams, Ganguly said that it will be a different side, which won’t have anyone from the outfit that will be in the United Kingdom at that time.

“Yes, it will be a team of white ball specialists. It will be a different team,” the former India captain said, making it clear that the cricket board also has the preparation of white ball regulars in mind.

It is learnt the series against Sri Lanka will involve 5 T20Is and 3 ODIs. The tour will end on September 14.

The idea behind going ahead with the Lanka tour is to get some match time for white ball specialists keeping in mind the T20 World Cup. The selectors will also get to fix the missing jigsaws in selection puzzle.

This will also give the team a chance to carry out experiments, like whether it will be Yuzuvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar or Rahul Tewatia for the leg break bowler’s slot, if Chetan Sakariya can be tried as left-arm option, whether Devdutt Padikkal or Shreyas Iyer gets fit to play by then.

Not to forget that Prithvi Shaw’s international career could get a boost with this white ball tournament, with Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan also getting a chance to stake their claims.