Australia was already dealing with significant setbacks following the injuries to Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Marsh. Starc's withdrawal further depletes their frontline pace attack for the tournament, which begins on February 19 in Pakistan and the UAE.
Steve Smith etched his name into the history book in the spectrum of fielding, by becoming the player to take the most Test catches by a non-wicketkeeper for Australia in Tests.
Smith had a moment of redemption as after a 0-3 loss to Lankan Lions in Sri Lanka back in 2016, his men finally got something to rejoice as they secured their first series win in Sri Lanka in 14 years.
After 14 years, Australia has finally managed to secure a series win in Sri Lanka and for the first time since 2006, they have clean swept a series in Asia.
On Friday, Smith put on a masterclass in playing spin, ending day two at 120* in 239 balls, with nine fours and a six, putting Aussies in a commanding position.
A pair of India's in-form white-ball players have been rewarded for strong performances during the recent home series against England by making giant strides on the latest ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings.
The second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia will take place at Galle from February 6 onwards. With Australia, already having booked a spot in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC), leading 1-0, Sri Lanka would like to bow out of their most successful WTC campaign on a high.
After left-arm spinner, Matthew Kuhnemann sustained a compound dislocation to his right thumb during the Big Bash League, his presence in Australia's Test tour of Sri Lanka became a major doubt.
Australia delivered a strong all-round performance, filled with record-breaking efforts from Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon to defeat Sri Lanka by an innings and 242 runs to retain the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy and take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
A dominant performance with the bat against Sri Lanka in Galle has left Australia with plenty of ponder ahead of the World Test Championship Final. Smith is backing in-form batter Usman Khawaja to prolong his international career and maintain his opening role for this year's ICC World Test