International cricket to return to Dambulla

Dambulla: The upcoming Indian Under-19 team`s tour of Sri Lanka will bring international cricket back to the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium (RDIS) for the first time in three years.

The Indian U-19 team will play its only four-day match at this venue. The Indian juniors are to arrive here late July to play five ODIs. Mahendra Singh Dhoni`s Indians were the last tourists to play an official ODI here during their tour in 2010. The third ODI between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in November will be the first official ODI at Dambulla in the last three years. A senior SLC delegation last month visited the town with a view to revive international cricket. The ground would soon see the commissioning of a new flood lights system in keeping with ICC standards, SLC officials said. Inamaluwe Sumangala, chief monk of the historical Dambulla Buddhist monastery and temple, said that construction of a five star hotel in the area was also part of the new development plans. PTI