It’s been two years since a Sri Lankan played at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai in the IPL, because of political reasons. There have been changes in leadership at the top, diplomatic talks have taken place and the fishermen problem across Palk Strait seems to have been solved, without anything on Sri Lankans not playing in Chennai.
Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera and Lasith Malinga are the only Sri Lankans to feature in this edition of the IPL after Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakratne Dilshan missed out. Chennai Super Kings, who hired Muttiah Muralitharan, Perera and Nuwan Kulasekara in the past, didn’t go for any Sri Lankan in the last two auctions after they couldn’t use the latter fully in 2013.
For a city closely connected to Colombo in terms of culture and tradition, Chennai has been bad when it comes to Lankan players. Perera, now part of Kings XI Punjab, said not playing in Chennai hurts. “Personally, it’s disappointing. I don’t know why. Maybe because I like playing in that city as I was part of their team. In the last three years we couldn’t play in Chennai for different reasons,” Perera told Express on Tuesday.
“About other players missing in IPL, you have to ask the Indian Cricket Board. We played each other a lot (India and Sri Lanka) in the last few years and both countries have similar conditions and it was one of the big reasons why a lot of our players were picked by IPL franchises. They were successful too.
But this season I don’t know why they chose not to go for our players,” Perera added.
Punjab is Perera’s fifth team after CSK, Mumbai Indians, Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Sunrisers Hyderabad. A regular with Sri Lanka, Perera has so far found the going tough in this IPL. Still only 26, he is realistic about chances in a star-sided team.
“This is my second season with the team but I didn’t play any matches last season as I was on national duty. In the Champions League I got a chance because (Mitchell) Johnson wasn’t playing. With a lot of foreign players around, it’s difficult to get a look-in. Most of them are quality players. So it’s tough to find a place in the XI. Competition is huge because only four foreigners can play,” Perera added.
The all-rounder, who bats left-handed and bowls right-arm medium pace, is often seen sporting a smile, a rarity in the modern game. Perera believes this quality helps him handle pressure. “As a player you have to stay happy all the time. You need to be happy at heart. Smiling helps me bring down the pressure.” This smiling face has also brought him the nickname ‘Panda.’
And just as you pose that question, that smile turns into laughter. “That was at my first IPL. I was with CSK and so was George Bailey. I was a little fat but quick in fielding sessions. And he said, ‘TP you are like a small Panda. You’re really quick.’ After that the name stuck. When he gave me the name, I was young and he was a big player. So I couldn’t come up with anything for him,” he chuckled.
