Thisara Perera has improved a lot – Samaraweera
Perera is a man in form
Sri Lanka batting coach Thilan Samaraweera has backed Sri Lanka all-rounder Thisara Perera and has claimed that he improved in the last six months. The all-rounder smashed 49 from 30 balls against South Africa and although it went in vain in the end, it just showed how much he has improved this year.
Indeed, the big man has scored 183 runs from 6 innings in 2018 with an average of 45.75 and strike-rate of a phenomenal 156. He has also taken 11 wickets in the same time and at an average of a miserly 17.63.
As a result, Samaraweera thinks that Perera is an improved player.
"In the last six months he's improved a lot as a batsman," Samaraweera said. "I gave a lot of space to him, and he's getting there. The good thing is, after his dismissal, he showed a lot of disappointment in the dressing room, because this was one of the best opportunities for him to get an ODI hundred."
Samaraweera then went on to add that they have informed Perera as to how important he is for Sri Lanka for the World Cup next year and that bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake also deserves credit for improving him.
"We had a lot of discussions, and we emphasised to Thisara how important he is to the 2019 World Cup," Samaraweera said.
"I think you have to give a lot of credit to bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake also. He changed Thisara's bowling approach. He was very slow to the crease before Rumesh came, and in the last seven months, we can see how much faster he is to the stumps. We had strong discussions, and sometimes disagreements. But Thisara is heading in the right direction at the moment."
Thisara Perera has always been a destructive player for Sri Lanka but could never really perform at a consistent level. His form this year, however, should be a cause of great optimism ahead of the World Cup.
