Dashing wicket-keeper batsman Kusal Janith Perera faced the media, for the first time on Thursday at Sri Lanka Cricket Headquarters, after being cleared by ICC of all the doping charges against him on Wednesday night.

“I was under a lot of pressure for the last six months but in those times, the Sri Lanka Cricket board, my family members and my manager, Ravi Aiya helped me immensely and I’m grateful to them. I’m extremely happy that I got the chance to make a comeback into cricket. I was firm on the fact that I’m not guilty and that I have not done anything wrong. From tomorrow, I can restart my training and my first priority is to play for Sri Lanka again.” Kusal Janith told the media.

He was provisionally suspended from international and domestic cricket last December when a random urine sample found 19-Norandrostenedione, a banned substance – in his sample tested by a Qatar-based WADA testing facility. The 25-year old missed out on the entire tour of New Zealand, a bilateral T20 series against India, the Asia Cup, and the World T20.

Photo Album – Media Briefing Kusal Perera cleared of doping charges

“I don’t want to think about the financial loss which I incurred, I just want to get back into the game and regain my usual form. Everyone trusted me immensely and because of that, I don’t think there was any damage to my reputation.” Perera further stated.

Most fans expect him to be a part of the forthcoming Test series against England but it is highly unlikely that he will resume his career in red-ball cricket, however there is a huge possibility that he will join the team for the ODIs in June.

“Kusal Janith is back because Sri Lanka Cricket regained the right to speak at the ICC by being an elected body. We were only an ‘Observer’ earlier but we changed that. Sumathipala and his team acted smartly and responsibly in this matter” Honourable Sports Minister, Dayasiri Jayasekera said, commending the efforts of the administrators at SLC.

“We changed our approach after consulting our lawyers from Morgan Sports Law and decided to go through the scientific way. The newest and the most expensive technologies, the Polygraph Test and the Hair Test which Kusal had to go undergo, proved his innocence and ICC had to change their stance.“ Thilanga Sumathipala said at the media briefing.

“We totally believed in Kusal from the onset and the executive committee unanimously decided to represent him and completely back him. Without his (Kusal) personal expenses, we (SLC) spent about 15 million rupees to fight his case” Sumathipala went on to say.

Cricketing icons Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara too voiced their opinion on the matter, via twitter.

Neither Sri Lanka Cricket nor the Sports Ministry has decided if they are going to press charges against the ICC or the WADA-accredited testing lab in Qatar for their mistake.

In the official communique sent by ICC, CEO David Richardson praised the scientific approach taken by SLC, “Had it not been for the diligence of Mr Perera’s legal team and the ICC’s own desire to uncover the explanation for the reported findings, the consequences could well have been different, and that should be of concern to all involved in the fight against doping. We regret what Mr Perera has had to endure, and would like to commend him for the manner in which he has conducted himself throughout this period. We wish to make it clear that there is no evidence that Mr Perera has ever used performance-enhancing substances and we wish him well in his future cricketing endeavours.”

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