Kusal Perera to join Rangpur Riders on November 16 for BPL 2017

Sri Lankan big-hitting batter Kusal Perera is all set to join the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) franchise Rangpur Riders for the upcoming edition of the BPL after having fully recovered from his hamstring injury. The left-hander made his return to competitive cricket recently during the Mercantile Tournament, after rehabbing from the hamstring injury that he picked during Sri Lanka’s match against India in the Champions Trophy.

The 27-year-old has not donned the national outfit since then and had to miss the home series against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, India, as well as the UAE tour. At Rangpur Riders, he will join his teammates Lasith Malinga, Thisara Perera, and Nuwan Kulasekara. He is also expected to join Sri Lanka squad in India for the shorter formats, to feature in ODI and T20I series.

Speaking to Cricket Age, a top SLC Official privy to the matter revealed, ” The only issue was with his match fitness, now as he proved his match fitness as well, he has got the NOC from the board.”

Riders boasts of a star-studded lineup

Rangpur had earlier secured the services of Caribbean swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle for the fifth edition of the BPL. The franchise has also confirmed the signings of four overseas players, Samuel Badree, Johnson Charles, Perera and Ravi Bopara. National players Arafat Sunny and Rubel Hasan were also retained by the side for the BPL 2017.

Perera will bring in a lot of experience into the team having played T20s all across the globe. The wicketkeeper-batsman has featured in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Sri Lanka Premier League and various other T20 leagues.

However, this will be his first appearance in BPL. The versatile batsman has been playing for the national cricket team in all the three formats for a long time. He has played 27 T20 international matches for Sri Lanka, scoring 716 runs at an impressive strike rate of 132.10