India not treating Sri Lanka ODIs as practice games, claims Rohit Sharma as he fires a big warning to hosts

India's Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma has given a serious warning to Sri Lanka that India won't be playing any practice games against them and will be aiming to win the series.

The ODI series between India and Sri Lanka will begin on July 2. The next two ODIs will be played on July 4 and 7 respectively. All the matches will be played at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. The T20I series recently ended in India's favor as the visitors clean-swept the hosts 3-0.

Watch: Virat Kohli’s monstrous shot leaves Gautam Gambhir awestruck during India's practice session in Colombo

Rohit Sharma warns Sri Lanka ahead of the ODI series

On the eve of the first ODI match, Rohit Sharma clearly stated that India would not treat the ODIs against Sri Lanka as practice games and would be looking to win the series.

"We are not going to play practice games against Sri Lanka. We keep our long-term goals, but winning the series is also important," Rohit Sharma was quoted as saying by Revsportz on X (formerly Twitter).

We are not going to play practice games against Sri Lanka. We keep our long-term goals, but winning the series is also important: Rohit #SLvsIND

— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) August 1, 2024

The Indian skipper was also asked about his T20I retirement that he took recently. He as usual at his hilarious best and responded that it does not feel like a retirement yet and feels like he has been rested for a series.

Rohit Sharma played a key role in India's T20 World Cup win

Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from T20I cricket after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2024, where India clinched the trophy in Barbados. Rohit played a key role in India's win as he top-scored for India in the tournament with 257 runs in 8 matches at an average of 36.71. Overall, he was the second-highest run-scorer of the tournament.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were earlier expected to be rested for the ODI leg of Sri Lanka tour. But since India are supposed to play a limited number of ODIs before the next year's Champions Trophy, head coach Gautam Gambhir wanted to prepare a roadmap for India's ODI squad for the tournament. While Rohit and Kohli are available for this series, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja have been rested ahead of the busy home season.

Rohit is likely to lead India in the upcoming Champions Trophy, which will be hosted by Pakistan in February-March next year. India is likely to be one of the favorites to win the tournament.

They have qualified for three ICC tournament finals within a year, the WTC 2023 final, the ODI World Cup 2023 final, and the T20 World Cup 2024 final. Out of these three, India lost two finals to Australia but won the T20 World Cup 2024 title by defeating South Africa in the final.