Thisara Perera to lead Sri Lanka in India

Perera will lead Sri Lanka in ODI & T20 series against India:

Sri Lanka appointed Thisara Perera as captain for ODI & T20 series against India.

Perera led Sri Lanka during T20 series in Pakistan. Upul Tharanga & other Sri Lanka players refused to travel Pakistan after a series of defeats.

Thisara Perera appointed as Sri Lanka captain against India

Upul Tharanga was skipper when team lost to India, South Africa & Pakistan. Perera became Sri Lanka skipper as Sri Lanka became the first major team that visit Pakistan since the Sri Lanka team bus was attacked by terrorists in 2009. After that incident Pakistan use to play their home series in UAE.

Sri Lanka will play 3 ODI matches against India on 10 December, 13 December & 17 December. The ODI series will be followed by T20 series.

It will be Perera first experience of leading team in ODI. He will be the 7^th skipper of his team in 2017 after Mathews, Malinga, Herath, Chandimal, Tharanga & Kapugedera have failed to lead the Sri Lanka team.

"All teams go through tough patches, it's upto each of us to get past our mental barriers and perform best for our country," Perera said after he was appointment as captain. "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," Perera added. "I believe that if each player can perform to his individual potential, we can easily win this series."

Perera is not a regular skipper of Sri Lanka however his performance will be checked during this period & he may be offered permanent captaincy if his team played well.

Perera impressed Sri Lanka cricket board with his captaincy in limited over format after senior players refused to visit Pakistan & it was his aggressive captaincy that impressed the board. He was in charge of an inexperienced team that visited Pakistan for the last T20.

"The selectors noticed that he got a lot of support from the players during the T20 series in UAE and Pakistan, and we expect the same support and cooperation to be extended by the players," de Silva said. "We felt that he carried out his duties very effectively, and he was also a very aggressive captain. So I think when it comes to ODIs and T20s, that is what is required and the selectors have identified his capabilities."

Thisara is confident that his performance will be better if he becomes a permanent member of Sri Lanka cricket team.

"Even though I've played less than half of the limited-overs matches the team has played in 2017, I've played a lot of cricket abroad in that time. It's with those performances in tow that I returned to play for Sri Lanka. Yes, my performance level has been low, and I have been in and out of the team. But now as captain, I am a permanent member of the team, so I hope that means I'll be able to perform better going forward."

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