THISARA TO LEAD SL IN ODI SERIES IN INDIA

All-rounder Thisara Perera was yesterday appointed as Sri Lanka’s Captain for the upcoming ODI and Twenty20i series in India, replacing Upul Tharanga. Thisara, who has played in 125 ODIS and 63 T20IS, led Sri Lanka in their last T20I series against Pakistan and even though they lost the series Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) were said to be impressed with how he pulled the team together. Thisara is the seventh man to lead Sri Lanka in international cricket this year with Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga, Rangana Herath, Test Skipper Dinesh Chandimal and Chamara Kapugedera all in charge at various stages. Addressing the Media yesterday, Thisara said that captaining his country was a dream he had since childhood, and he was happy to have received this opportunity.

“All teams go through tough patches, it is upto each of us to get past our mental barriers and perform best for our country. The goal for each one of us is to bring glory to our country. This must be clearly stated.”

“I can confidently say that although India are currently best in the world in all three formats, if you compare each player of our team with any player in the world [not only India] we are on par with the best of the best”

“My policy as captain is to stop dwelling on the past and failures, and to march forward together with my team with our eyes firmly planted on the goal of bringing glory to our motherland.”

“I believe that if each player can perform to his individual potential, we can easily win this series,” he concluded.