Afghanistan Tour Sri Lanka 2026-27 Tests ODIs Fixtures

Afghanistan's tour of Sri Lanka in the 2026-27 cycle is one of the most tactically loaded fixtures on the calendar, and not because of any star-power glamour. Two Tests, three ODIs, the spin-on-spin matchup that purists love, and the question that hovers over every Afghan touring squad: is Rashid Khan available? Decoding the fixtures, the squads and the conditions matters more here than for almost any other bilateral, because the margins are thin and the home advantage is real.

Tour calendar

The tour is scheduled for late January and early February 2027, sitting in the gap between the BBL and the SA20 finals. The first Test is at Galle, opens January 22 and runs five days. The second Test moves to Colombo's SSC, January 30 to February 3. The three ODIs follow at Pallekele, Dambulla and Hambantota on February 7, 10 and 13. No T20Is on this tour — a deliberate call from Sri Lanka Cricket who want to use the white-ball window for the IPL-bound seamers' rest.

Fixture list

Galle Test 1: January 22-26. SSC Test 2: January 30 to February 3. ODIs: Pallekele Feb 7, Dambulla Feb 10, Hambantota Feb 13. The travel pattern is gentle — two days between Galle and Colombo, four days between SSC and Pallekele — which favours the visiting side carrying spin-only attacks. Galle is back on the Test calendar after the renovation, and the surface read for the opening Test will be the headline cricket conversation in the lead-up.

Afghanistan squad outlook

The squad question begins with Rashid. After the back issue that dominated the news cycle in early 2026, Rashid's availability for any red-ball cricket is being managed match by match. The current expectation is that he plays the SSC Test but sits out Galle to manage workload, with a final call at the squad-naming press conference. If Rashid is out, the Test attack pivots to Noor Ahmad as the senior spinner and the off-spinner Mohammad Nabi as the second tweaker, with Zia-ur-Rehman as the surprise option. The batting card is built around Rahmat Shah at three, Hashmatullah Shahidi at five, and Ibrahim Zadran opening with Riaz Hassan.

Sri Lanka home spin attack

Sri Lanka's spin trio at home is genuinely deep. Prabath Jayasuriya is the front-line left-arm finger spinner who has 50-plus Test wickets at home in three years. Lasith Embuldeniya gives the variation. The wildcard is Jeffrey Vandersay's leg-spin if the SSC pitch grips on day three. Sri Lanka have not lost a home Test series to any side outside the top six in the WTC table since 2023, and that streak is what Afghanistan are pushing against.

Spin-on-spin tactical preview

This is the matchup the tour is built around. Galle's pitch grips from session two onwards. The contest of the tour is whether Hashmatullah Shahidi can play Jayasuriya without using the sweep — the dismissal pattern shows Shahidi has been bowled twice and lbw-ed three times trying to sweep left-arm spin in the last cycle. Conversely, can Dimuth Karunaratne's replacement at the top, Pathum Nissanka, deal with Noor Ahmad's wrong'un on a fresh deck? The first session of the Galle Test will set the tone for the entire tour.

Broadcast and ticket info

Sony Sports holds the broadcast rights for the subcontinent; FanCode streams in India. In Sri Lanka, ThePapare carries the live stream and Sirasa TV runs the linear feed. Ticket sales open through the Sri Lanka Cricket portal six weeks out for the Tests; Galle five-day passes start at LKR 4,500 in the gallery stand and LKR 1,500 in the grass-bank Fort area. ODI tickets at Pallekele and Hambantota start at LKR 1,000.

Storylines to watch

Three things define this tour. First, Rashid's back — whether the Galle pitch tempts the management to risk him in the opener. Second, Noor Ahmad's emergence as a Test-format finisher with the ball; he has the variations but has bowled only seven Test innings in his career. Third, Sri Lanka's captaincy under their new white-ball-Test combined leadership and how the management balances Jayasuriya's overs across the two Tests. For Afghanistan, even one drawn Test on this tour is a major data point in their WTC future.

For deeper reading on the off-field story and the back-injury context, see our pieces on Rashid Khan's Test retirement 2026 back injury and Afghanistan's spin succession, the Rashid Khan Test retirement reversal rumour Afghanistan 2026, and the upcoming Afghanistan tour Pakistan 2026 bilateral 1st T20I day-1 preview.

Closing thought

This tour is a quiet but consequential one. Two Tests in Sri Lanka against a home spin attack that has not been beaten meaningfully at home in two years, with a touring side whose spin is its backbone but whose batting depth is still being built. If Afghanistan can stretch one Test into a fifth day, the WTC table starts to look different in the next cycle. The Galle morning of January 22 is the first audit.