The Proteas, led by captain de Villiers, defeated Sri Lanka by 82 runs on Saturday to claim their first ODI series win in the country.
With a two-Test series set to begin on Wednesday – which will see Hashim Amla take up the captaincy for the first time – the victory has hopefully set the tone for further success in the subcontinent.
“It sends out a statement of what we can achieve as a team, not just for everyone out there but more importantly for ourselves,” de Villiers said.
“In all kinds of sports you have to get the confidence going within before you can start proving people wrong or right. For me the biggest step was for us to start believing in ourselves as a team.”
The first Test will be held in Galle from July 16 to 20, while the second Test will be in Colombo from July 28 to 24.
