Sri Lankan promising opener Kusal Perera has rejected the offer — to fill in as the replacement of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad’s former skipper David Warner.
The 31-year-old Australian left-handed batsman Warner stood down as the skipper of Hyderabad in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal.
The 27-year-old left-handed explosive batsman Perera was stated to be replacing the swashbuckling batsman.
Interestingly, Perera represented Rajasthan Royals in the two IPL matches in which he scored 14 runs
Warner and Smith were respectively banned for one-year each by its board Cricket Australia following the shenanigans in Cape Town. However, Cameron Bancroft will serve the nine-month ban for breaching the Board’s Code of Conduct.
Earlier, the reports suggested Hyderabad-based outfit approached the top-order batsman Perera. Als, the IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla made it clear Warner alongside Steven Smith won’t be allowed to participate in the impending edition.
Perera cited the reason of snubbing while preferring the premium domestic competition.
Sunrisers already invested in Warner which further forced the management to look out for different opportunities.
The management of SRH has already named New Zealand star batsman Kane Williamson as the team leader for the IPL 2018.
Having the wide array of shots under his belt, Perera is looking forward to making a solid return in the Test fold.
In particular, Perera played 86 T20s in which he amassed 1,883 runs. He has also donned the gloves being as a part-time wicketkeeper.
The Kalubowila-born Perera represented Sri Lanka in 73 One-day Internationals, 34 T20Is, and 10 Tests since his debut in January 2013 against Australia at Adelaide.
Also, Perera last represented his national team in the whites in December 2015 against South Africa at Port Elizabeth.
According to the Sri Lankan journalist, Daniel Alexander, Perera has given first preference to the home competition to impress the selectors for claiming back the white jersey.
On March 28, Sri Lankan journo Azzam Ameen claimed Perera was in talks with SRH.
IPL team SunRisers Hyderabad has approached Kusal Janith Perera as a possible replacement for Banned David Warner, deal yet to be finalised
— Azzam Ameen (@AzzamAmeen) March 28, 2018
It was under the leadership of Warner when SRH lifted the coveted IPL title. Following the remarkable show in the ninth edition, however, the star cricketer continued to lead his side.
Here’s the tweet regarding Kusal Perera:
https://twitter.com/daniel86cricket/status/979671806343811072
Here’s the newsfeed:
Steve Smith, David Warner, tried ball-tampering in Sheffield Shield 2016 game: Report
SRH Have Possible Candidates To Replace David Warner As Captain: Wriddhiman Saha
