The first ODI between India and Sri Lanka on December 13 will be played in Visakhapatnam, with the BCCI confirming on Thursday that the series opener has been moved out of New Delhi.
The match, originally scheduled for the Arun Jaitley Stadium, will now be held at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. The BCCI said the venue change was made following a request from the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), “in view of the potential weather disruption and the proposed renovation work at the stadium”.
The DDCA had approached the board expressing its inability to host the game on the scheduled date. Alongside the weather and renovation concerns, Delhi’s air quality in December was also a factor — the association was keen to avoid a repeat of the problems encountered during India’s Test against Sri Lanka in December 2017, when visiting players struggled with the pollution and several wore masks on the field. Delhi has not staged an international match in December since that Test, and the December 13 game would have been the capital’s first ODI since the 2023 World Cup.
The confirmation ends weeks of uncertainty around the fixture. Last month, the BCCI had dismissed reports suggesting the opening ODI had been shifted from Delhi to Ahmedabad, with board secretary Devajit Saikia saying the match had been allotted to Delhi as per standard policy and no change had been made. The change has now been made — but to Visakhapatnam, not Ahmedabad.
Only the venue has changed. The opener keeps its slot, starting at 2:00 PM local time on Sunday, December 13, and the rest of the tour keeps its original venues. The second ODI is scheduled in Bengaluru on December 16 — the same day as the IPL auction — and the third in Ahmedabad on December 19. The three T20Is that follow will be played in Rajkot, Cuttack and Pune, with the tour running from December 13 to 27.
For Visakhapatnam, it is a return to the international calendar as the host of a series opener, with the ACA-VDCA ground set to stage the first match of India’s final ODI series of the 2026 calendar year.
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