Addressing a press conference soon after the team landed here for the three-match Test series, Kumble sounded upbeat about the team's prospect and was not unduly worried about Dhoni's absence.
"This would give an opportunity to both Dinesh Karthick and Parthiv Patel to prove themselves after their good showing in the domestic cricket," Kumble said.
Though Kumble oozed confidence that his side would live up to the expectation in the series, the seasoned campaigner admitted it would not be a cakewalk for the visitors.
"It will be a tough series and will require a lot of hard work," Kumble said.
Sri Lanka has an impressive record at home and they have found a new match-winner in spin sensation Ajantha Mendis, even though Kumble insisted the Indian batsmen were not losing sleep over him.
Image: Jayawardene and his Indian counterpart Kumble pose with the trophy at a press conference in Colombo on Tuesday. Photograph: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty Images
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