Former Sri Lanka cricketer Thisara Perera has gone down the memory lane in an interview with News Nine and recalled a moment of camaraderie with MS Dhoni while playing for the Rising Pune Supergiant. Back in 2016, Perera plied his trade for the Supergiant under the leadership of Dhoni, who is currently the skipper of […]
Former Sri Lanka cricketer Thisara Perera has gone down the memory lane in an interview with News Nine and recalled a moment of camaraderie with MS Dhoni while playing for the Rising Pune Supergiant. Back in 2016, Perera plied his trade for the Supergiant under the leadership of Dhoni, who is currently the skipper of four-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Perera had a reasonable season with the bat in hand, having scored 150 runs from 10 innings at an average of 21.42 and a strike rate of 161.29. The veteran also accounted for nine scalps at an economy rate of 9.82. Perera, who called it a day from international cricket in May 2021, hailed Dhoni as one of the best skippers he has played under in his career.
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Perera said that Dhoni, during a game, motivated him to play his natural game at a stage when the Supergiant have lost half their side. He also mentioned how Dhoni showed nerves of steel and guided his team to a decent total at the end of 20 overs.
Being able to play under your leadership has added a lot to my cricketing career . we will always miss you ‘Captain cool’ @msdhoni pic.twitter.com/9DkWr1TEU1
— Thisara perera (@PereraThisara) August 16, 2020
“I remember a special incident with MS Dhoni for Rising Pune Supergiant, in 2016, and that is where I felt that Dhoni is like my brother. In one of the matches, we were 35-5, and I came down to bat. MS was the non-striker. He walked up to me and said, ‘Hi, TP. Let’s just bat’,” Perera told News Nine.
“I defended my first ball and he comes to me knocking the pitch – ‘Hey, TP. What are you doing?’ I said, ‘I am just watching the ball.’ The reply from him was very special, something which I didn’t expect with the sort of scorecard we were having at that time. ‘No, no. I picked you because you can hit the ball miles away,” he stated.
“Go explode’. And from there on, I was just hitting every ball. I got around 18-ball 40 or something, which took the momentum away from the opposition. MS played until the 20th over and we scored around 170 or 180 from 35-5,” Perera added.
Back in 2010, Perera made his IPL debut for the Super Kings, who won the IPL for the first time that season. The all-rounder stated that being an youngster, he enjoyed his heart out in CSK’s title winning campaign.
Perera is currently taking part in the 2022 edition of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) where he’s representing the Khulna Tigers, led by Mushfiqur Rahim. In 313 T20s, Perera has scored 3997 runs at a strike rate of 151.74 with 11 half-centuries.
