Sri Lanka interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya feels the absence of star players Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja will hurt India in the upcoming T20I series against them. Notably, Rohit, Kohli and Jadeja announced their retirement from the shortest format after India’s T20 World Cup 2024 triumph.
India emerged victorious in the final beating South Africa by seven runs and ended their 11-year-long ICC Trophy drought as Rohit, Kohli and Jadeja finished their T20I career on a high. The batting stars who finished as the top two highest run scorers in T20Is, leaves a huge void in the Indian team which Jayasuriya wants Sri Lanka to take full advantage of.
“Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are best players in the world. Looking at their talent and the kind of cricket they have played we all know where they belong, along with Jadeja. Their absence will be loss to the Indian team and we have to take maximum advantage out of that,” Jayasuriya was quoted as saying by Associated Press during a press meet.
India’s dominant record against Sri Lanka
India have an upper hand over Sri Lanka in the T20I history between the two teams as the Men in Blue have won 19 out of the 29 matches played between the two teams. On the other hand, India have won eight out of the ten bilateral series played between the two teams. Sri Lanka have emerged victorious just once in 2021 when India had to field a second string team due to Covid-19. There was one series which ended in a 1-1 draw in 2009.
The upcoming series will also mark the beginning of the new era in the Indian cricket team with head coach Gautam Gambhir taking charge of the team. Suryakumar Yadav has been appointed as the new skipper of the shortest format replacing Rohit and Shubman Gill will serve as his deputy. In the ODI series, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be seen playing the 50-over format for the first time since the ODI World Cup 2023.