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KJP confident he will get full support from team

14 May 2021

By Revatha S. Silva

Kusal Janith Perera aka KJP spoke to the media for the first time Thursday (13) after he was appointed Sri Lanka One-day International (ODI) Captain and expressed his confidence that the team will give him maximum support.

Answering the Morning Sports in the media briefing held via video conferencing, Perera stressed there is no way he could not garner support that his predecessor Dimuth Karunaratne got from the national team as the Skipper.

“When we play as a team, we get everyone’s support. There were small, small problems. Every team has problems. I can’t say no,” Perera said.

“When Dimuth was the Captain, we supported him. Dimuth didn’t have any personal grudge against any player or any displeasure for anyone. But there are minor issues in any side of any country. It is us, the very players, that expose such things to the outside,” he further explained.

Outgoing Sri Lanka ODI Captain Karunaratne was appointed in the position in April 2019 before of the World Cup in England that year, to the surprise of many, ahead of the seniors of the time such as Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, and Thisara Perera.

Karunaratne, though had been considered a Test specialist by then having not played at least a single ODI since the 2015 World Cup. He was picked by the national selectors of the time, headed by Ashantha de Mel, for the sole purpose of making peace in a team that lacked unity, being allegedly divided into several factions.

“I think the way we train now, there is no problem in the team. But some small, small issues may crop up. Therefore we want to make certain that we play in such a way that those issues won’t affect the team as a whole. I think all the players will support me the way they supported Dimuth,” said Perera on Thursday.

In fact, Karunaratne was first appointed as the national Test Captain in February 2019 for the same reason –to make peace and unity within a divided outfit-- by the de Mel-led committee. The ploy brought instant success when Sri Lanka recorded a historic clean sweep in South Africa.

I have never and will never influence the selectors – Ravi de Silva

[caption id="attachment_135938" align="alignleft" width="381"] Kusal Janith Perera (left) with his Player Manager Ravi de Silva. (Photo Pradeep Dambarage)[/caption]

We posed three questions with regard to Kusal Janith Perera being appointed as Sri Lanka’s ODI Captain for the forthcoming Bangladesh series, that is scheduled to start on 23 May, from his Manager Ravi de Silva on Thursday.

De Silva is the founder and owner of “Management Company International”, a management company that currently works with leading and prospective international cricketers such as Perera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Kamindu Mendis.

Q: As the Player Manager of Kusal Perera, do you influence the national cricket selectors to appoint him as the Sri Lanka ODI Captain?

A: Absolutely not. I have never and I will never.

Q: As an independent observer of the game, do you think Perera can lead the Sri Lanka ODI side without a notable past captaincy experience?

A: I have grown up as one of Kusal’s confidants and mentors since he was 17. What I know is he is made of absolute rock. As far as his captaincy is concerned, only time will tell (how he is going to fare). But what I can tell you is that you push him against the wall, and then you are going to see the best of Kusal.

Q: Can Sri Lanka afford three different Captains in the three formats?

A: The world is going that way. There are a lot of examples. Cricket is evolving. What we see today is not the cricket that we played when we were young.

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