Sri Lanka Cricket announces selected free entry for India series to attract large crowd

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has announced selected free entry for the two-match Test series against India in Galle and Colombo. Spectators will be allowed free entry to the grass embankments at the Galle International Cricket Stadium (GICS) and Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC), which are the two venues for the first and second Tests, respectively.

Gate 4 at the Galle International Cricket Stadium (GICS) can be accessed for free entry, whereas fans can use gates 3, 4, 5 and 7 at the Sinhalese Sports Club to watch the series without having to worry about any charges.

The first Test will run from August 15 to 19 and the second is slated to be played from August 23 to 27.

"Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce that public admission to the upcoming Test Series between Sri Lanka and India will be free of charge thus providing cricket fans with an excellent opportunity to witness world-class Test cricket," SLC said in a media release.

"Sri Lanka Cricket warmly invites cricket enthusiasts, young aspiring cricketers, families, and sports fans from across the country to take advantage of this initiative and experience the excitement of international Test cricket between Sri Lanka and India."

The move is understood to be an implicit recognition of the diminishing enthusiasm among fans in the country. However, this is not the first of its kind. Sri Lanka Cricket has undertaken similar exercises on numerous occasions in the past to deal with weakening interest.

Notably, India and Sri Lanka are fifth and sixth on the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) points table. India have won four, lost as many and played out a draw in the nine matches this cycle. They have a points percentage (PCT) of 48.15. They lost to South Africa 2-0 (2) at home in their previous WTC assignment last year.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka have a solitary win to show for after four games. They have played out two draws and lost one fixture. The Lankan Lions have a points percentage of 41.67. Their last assignment resulted in a 1-0 (2) loss in a two-match series at the hands of West Indies.