Sri Lanka will overcome the absence of captain Angelo Mathews and vice-captain Dinesh Chandimal in the two-Test series against Zimbabwe that starts on Saturday, stand-in skipper Rangana Herath said.
Matthews and his deputy Chandimal did not make the tour to southern Africa because of injury.
"Obviously that's a huge loss," Herath said on Friday.
"But I think we have the kind of balance of experienced players and youngsters to make up for that loss. I think what we came with is the right team at the moment."
The 38-year-old Herath, who spun Sri Lanka to a memorable series victory over Australia in July, is again hopeful that conditions in Harare will suit the slow bowlers.
"We've looked at the wicket. It looks good for both batting and bowling. Hopefully it will have assistance for spinners in the end," he said.
Zimbabwe will be under new coach Heath Streak for the first time.
Former Zimbabwe captain and fast bowler Streak played in the 1990s and early 2000s, an era when the African side enjoyed rare success.
Since then, Zimbabwe has become a punching bag in world cricket, especially after Streak and 14 other senior players were sacked by the board in 2004 over a contractual dispute.
Now coach, Streak will take charge of Zimbabwe for the first time in the country's historic 100th test match. In those 100 games, Zimbabwe has won just 11 Tests, with six of the victories against fellow minnows Bangladesh.
India and Pakistan are the only other teams Zimbabwe has beaten.
Zimbabwe's performance on the field has clearly been hurt by issues off it, where the sport has reflected the country's financial crisis.
Top players have gone on strike, been sacked, or have left to pursue their careers in other countries, a draining away of talent that Zimbabwe could not afford.
"It's sad to think about the kind of side we would have now. Due to the passage of time, I would rather not focus on that. The most important thing at the moment is the future," Streak told Associated Press.
Streak was part of a huge chunk of that success as a player.
Zimbabwe last played Test cricket in August, losing a series 2-0 to New Zealand.
Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka will be joined by West Indies for a triangular one-day series after the two Tests.
