The retirement of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja from T20 internationals has left India in a transition phase, but newly-appointed T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav on Friday said he has faith that the youngsters in the squad will step up.
The trio quit T20 internationals shortly after the India's World Cup triumph in June. Meanwhile, 33-year-old Suryakumar was appointed India's T20 captain last week, with his tenure beginning with a three-match series in Sri Lanka on Saturday.
Opening batters Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal are expected to replace Kohli and Rohit, while allrounder Axar Patel is in line to replace Jadeja.
"It will be difficult to fill the shoes, but obviously people have practised so much, new players have come, they are already doing well when they play franchise cricket," Suryakumar told reporters.
"And the matches they played for India, they have done very well in that too. So I have a lot of trust in those three, who have just come in their place, that they will do well."
The Sri Lanka series will also kick start the tenure of head coach Gautam Gambhir, who succeeded former India teammate Rahul Dravid.
"Our bond has always been special," Suryakumar said, speaking about his relationship with Gambhir.
"He knows my body language. When I see his body language, I know what he wants to say to me. And what I want to say to him. I am very excited for this journey ahead of me."