An ODI series victory against India was aided by the Rajasthan Royals (RR) link, according to Sri Lanka's interim coach Sanath Jayasuriya. After the series ended, Sanath Jayasuriya expressed his gratitude to Kumar Sangakkara and Lasith Malinga, two of his former teammates.

“Special thank you to Sanga and Lasith for the support and for motivating the team and support staff. Your contribution was invaluable to us,” Jayasuriya posted on X (formerly known as Twitter).

The series was won by the host team on Wednesday at Colombo's R Premadasa Stadium with a 110-run victory over India. Not only that, but it was the first international series victory for the Islanders versus India in 27 years.

"It was a very long wait because that series I played in 1997 and got a lot of runs in that series. That was the last series we won against India. After 27 years, I am part of the team and I am very happy to be part of these boys. They are a very nice bunch of players and are talented and the whole country would have seen what we can do,” Jayasuriya said after the match.

Bowling the Men in Blue out for 138 in 26.1 overs, Sri Lanka put up an outstanding performance in the third One-Day International. Five wickets were taken by left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage, who captained the Sri Lankan U-19 team that competed in the 2022 World Cup in South Africa.

According to Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka had a terrible time of it in the Twenty20 International series they lost. According to him, the hosts' resilience allowed them to mount a successful comeback.

"The boys went through a very, very hard time. Even during the T20 series we played well but the result was not what was expected. The players realised what went wrong when we came back to Colombo and they started to play well.", he continued. Sri Lanka showed more tenacity with the bat following repeated middle-order capitulations in the T20I series loss. Dunith Wellalage's 108 runs and 7 wickets helped win the series. The Sri Lankan top order always started well with the bat, but Jayasuriya chimed in on how he and his staff worked with the players and gave them confidence.

"We have been working with players like Wellalage, Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Asalanka, all are very young players. Hasaranga got injured and Vandersay has been there for a long time but never got the opportunity and when we gave the opportunity, he grabbed it with both hands," the coach said.

Next up for Sri Lanka is a three-game Test series on the road against England. In the extended version of the game, all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva will remain the national team's captain. Their goal should be to secure a victory over England and move up the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023–25 standings.