New Zealand vs Sri Lanka: How return to first-class cricket woke up sleeping giant Thisara Perera

‘Panda’ is the nickname coined for Thisara Perera by the Australian players when he was part of IPL’s Chennai Super Kings franchise. The name has struck a chord and he has been addressed so by fans and friends ever since. The last few days were remarkable in Panda’s career as he showcased his potential as someone who can be deadly with the bat as Sri Lanka went down fighting to New Zealand at the picturesque venues in Mount Maunganui and Nelson. [caption id=“attachment_5862671” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Thisara Perera in action against New Zealand in the 3rd ODI. AFP[/caption] When he made his debut almost a decade ago aged 20, Perera was destined for greatness given his immense talent. But he has underachieved. Colleagues, officials and fans were frustrated given his inconsistent performances. But they had waited patiently knowing well what he was capable of. Finally, on the New Zealand tour, Perera has delivered with some impact performances. These had been testing times for the Sri Lankan all-rounder. He had been appointed as Sri Lanka’s T20 captain in September last year and many expected him to take the team through to the World T20 in Australia in 2020. But he was replaced by Lasith Malinga ahead of the New Zealand tour. The fact that there were no takers for him in the IPL was also a bitter pill to swallow, given his all round ability. There had been a war of words between the wives of Perera and captain Lasith Malinga. The latter’s wife had accused Perera of seeking political favours in a bid to regain the captaincy, on social media. Mrs Perera had dismissed the allegations and retorted saying ‘by putting on a lion’s clothes, a wolf wouldn’t become a lion’. The arguments were dragging on in social media and criticism intensified after Perera conceded 80 runs in the first game. He was hammered for five consecutive sixes by James Neesham in the penultimate over of the innings. And there were calls to drop him for the remaining two games as the other seaming all-rounder Dasun Shanaka was warming the benches. But the all-rounder was given another chance. On the eve of the second ODI, Panda broke the ice asking people to respect his statistics in 2018 without indulging in mud-slinging. Then, he let his bat do the talking. He pounced on this opportunity to showcase to the world what he is capable of.

🙏🏽 Just let me do my work peacefully please 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/EDdNoVnPKU

— Thisara perera (@PereraThisara) January 4, 2019

Chasing a target of 320 in the second ODI, the tourists had slumped to 128 for seven halfway through the innings. At the crease were Malinga and Perera, sworn enemies who rarely talk to each other. Their wives keep washing dirty linen on social media with one accusing the other’s better half of seeking political favour to hold onto the captaincy. There was hardly any interaction during their 75-run stand for the eighth wicket but the partnership kept the Sri Lankans interested. Panda was doing all the scoring. A 51-run stand for the ninth wicket with Lakshan Sandakan (6) and a further 44-run stand for the last wicket with Nuwan Pradeep kept the fans at the edge of the seats as Perera belted out a masterclass. Not only did he post a maiden hundred but went onto finish with 140 before being the last man out. When you consider only Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda de Silva, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, TM Dilshan and Upul Tharanga are the other Sri Lankans to post more than Perera’s 140 in an ODI innings, you realise the weight of Panda’s performance that night. In all, he smashed 13 sixes, giving the Kiwis a taste of their own medicine. It is a record by a Sri Lankan for most sixes in an innings, beating Jayasuriya’s effort of 11 sixes in an innings in 1996 in Singapore against Pakistan. Perera faced just 74 balls for his knock of 140 and finished with a strike rate of 189. All those who witnessed one of the finest ODI hundreds in the history were in awe of his effort as Sri Lanka fell short by 22 runs. The 29-year-old’s resurgence is crucial for Sri Lanka with the 2019 World Cup around the corner and he gives them much-needed assurance in their batting. Panda’s efforts were no flash in the pan. Since Chandika Hathurusingha took over, he has been working methodically to bring the best out of his all-rounder. One of the first things that Hathurusingha did was to force Perera to play first-class cricket again. With various T20 franchises mushrooming around the world, Perera had lost interest in Days cricket. The reason why the head coach pushed him to play first-class cricket was to work on his defence, an area in which he had shown vulnerability. There was also quite a bit of work done on his off-side play as he had been predominantly a leg-side player. Playing first-class cricket again also helped Perera to work on certain areas of his bowling like his stock delivery. There were extremely impressive results in 2018 where he averaged 34 with the bat and 20 with the ball. His career averages are 21 with the bat and 31 with the ball. Hathurusingha’s mantra has worked for Perera. His performances in New Zealand have so far has been the best of his career. Sri Lanka and its fans would be hoping that he continues this momentum and form a vital cog for the World Cup. After all, the sleeping giant has finally woken up and hopefully, the best might still be yet to come.