Thisara Perera to Play Army Cricket

The reputed national cricketer, Thisara Perera has been enlisted to the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force as a Commissioned Officer in the rank of Major in the Gajaba Regiment.

The former national cricket skipper, Dinesh Chandimal also joined the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force this year to play for the Army cricket team.

Born on April 3, 1989, Thisara Perera is amongst the new generation of attacking allrounders from Sri Lanka. Perera began his career as a bowler, opening for the Under-19 team. He impressed with useful performances in a tri-nation tournament in July 2007 and the subsequent youth Test against India. These performances helped him gain an entry into the Under-19 squad for the World Cup in Malaysia in 2008.

Perera received his maiden call-up into the national squad as an emergency replacement for Angelo Mathews during Sri Lanka's tour of India in late 2009. In just his third match, he starred with both bat and ball to help Sri Lanka edge past India in Mirpur in Bangladesh.

Perera seemed to have reserved his best against India. He picked up his maiden five-wicket haul against the northern neighbours in Dambulla in 2010 and followed it up with another five-wicket haul in the successful conquest of Australia, later that year.

His success at the ODI level helped Perera cement his place in the team and got a maiden call-up for the Test tour to England. He made his debut in Cardiff but had to wait until the third Test to pick up his first victim in the form of Kevin Pietersen.

His attacking batting and more then useful bowling caught the attention of Chennai Super Kings in the 2010 auctions before subsequently moving onto Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Mumbai Indians. He was later snapped by Hyderabad for USD 675,000 at the 2013 auction in Chennai, following some heavy bidding. He claimed 19 wickets from 16 matches for SRH in the Indian T20 League 2013. He was purchased by Kings XI Punjab for 16 million in 2014 but was unable to play that season.

Another alumnus of the prestigious St. Joseph college in Colombo, Thisara's all-round success comes as no surprise. A game-changer in the truest sense of the world, the 25-year- old has helped Sri Lanka mastermind a slew of come-from-behind victories. His lusty blows came to the fore during his 44-ball-69 against South Africa in Kimberley as the Emerald Islanders chased down their first 300 plus target against the Proteas. He was also on song in the 2012 home series against Pakistan, leading the bowling charts with 11 victims, including a hat-trick. The season also witnessed Thisara improve his credentials as a 'finisher'. Add his acrobatic fielding to the mix, you obtain a potent package. Sri Lankan coach, Graham Ford, who was mighty impressed with Thisara, remarked that the latter's approach often draws parallels with Lance Klusener.

Another significant match-winning act hauled in when Perera lifted his side to 180 from 67-8 to fashion a narrow victory thanks to a typically counter-punching and unconquered 80 against Bangladesh in February 2014. Authentic Nike Sneakers | Nike SB