New Delhi [India], October 28 (ANI): For the first time, two disability-format cricket teams from one nation will tour India together. Sri Lanka's Physically Disabled (PD) team and its Wheelchair team will both take on India in the Sewa Niketan Foundation Beyond Ability India vs Sri Lanka IT20 Series in Chennai from October 31 to November 2, at the CSK Ground, OMR, Chennai.
The Differently Abled Cricket Council of India (DCCI) sees the joint tour as more than a cricketing milestone. It shows how disability cricket can be run in the years ahead. DCCI wants all disability formats to work together in future and to organise their events jointly, so that venues, logistics, officials, sponsorship and funds are put to the best possible use and more players get to compete, according to a release.
The tour builds on recent visits. The Sri Lankan PD team last toured India in 2025, when DCCI and Wilspoke Sports and Entertainment hosted India's first bilateral PD (Standing) T20 series at Kini Cricket Ground, Bengaluru. India won the PD Deepak Lohia Memorial Trophy 5-0. In June 2024, the Sri Lankan Wheelchair team played the Wheelchair Cricket T20I Trophy at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex, Greater Noida, and India again won the series 5-0.
Indian disability cricket has had a strong run since. In January 2025, the Indian PD team won the PD Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, beating England by 79 runs in the final, and was later felicitated by Union Sports Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya. In 2026, India's Mixed Disability side played England at home in January–February and then in a seven-match IT20 series in England in August. India lost that series 4-3 but signed off with a 118-run win at Lord's on 19 August.
In Chennai, the India and Sri Lanka PD teams will play a three-match T20 series alongside the wheelchair cricket fixtures. Match timings will be announced separately.
Ravi Chauhan, Secretary, DCCI, said, "Two Sri Lankan disability teams arriving in India on the same tour is a first, and it shows what we can do when we plan together. Our goal is that blind, deaf, physically disabled and wheelchair cricket stop working in silos. When the formats share venues, staff, sponsors and resources, every rupee goes further and more players get to play. Chennai is the start of that approach, and we invite every disability cricket body to join us."
Sqn Ldr Abhai Pratap Singh, President, Wheelchair Cricket India Association, said, "Wheelchair cricketers have shown time and again that they can compete at the highest level. Sharing this series with the PD format gives our players more visibility, better arrangements and a bigger audience than a stand-alone event could. Our association fully supports DCCI's vision of joint events. Working together is the most practical way to build lasting opportunities for differently abled cricketers across India." (ANI)
Sri Lanka's physically disabled, wheelchair cricket teams to tour India together for first time
