SL vs IND: Rohit Sharma denies Sri Lanka ODIs as Champions Trophy 'practice ground'. says 'by no means...'

Ahead of the three ODIs versus Sri Lanka, Indian captain Rohit Sharma made it clear that Men in Blue isn't taking the Lanka games as a 'practice ground' for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. The mega event will be held early next year, scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan, and India only have a handful of ODIs before that. While Rohit admitted that the team has one eye on the Champions Trophy but stated that the SL ODIs isn't a 'practice ground'.

Prior to the series opener in Colombo, on Friday (Aug 2), Rohit said in a press conference, "You get asked a lot whether this series is a preparation for the World Cup, or is this a preparation for the Champions Trophy. It's not a practice ground - it' still an international game. We will keep in our minds what we want to achieve, but this is by no means preparation or practice or anything like that. We want to come here and play good cricket and get something out of the series."

He added, "Of course we want to try everything possible, but when you're representing the nation, the quality of cricket should remain the way it is, and how we've played over the last few years. That is more important, rather than thinking about it as a preparation and saying let's go out and chill in Colombo. We don't think like that."

Rohit, along with Virat Kohli, returns to international cricket following the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph. Hitman and Kohli retired from T20Is post the historic win in the mega event, held in West Indies and the USA. Along with Kohli and Rohit, ODI regulars such as KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer will also be in action during the Lanka ODIs.

Earlier in the tour, Suryakumar Yadav-led India whitewashed Sri Lanka in three T20Is which also kickstarted the Gautam Gambhir-era in Indian cricket. Gambhir took over as India's head coach from Rahul Dravid, whose tenure ended post the T20 WC win.