Melbourne Renegades sign Thisara Perera

BBL franchise Melbourne Renegades have signed Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera to replace Caribbean all-rounder Dwayne Bravo after he sustained an injury. On the hand lanky speedster, James Pattinson is also likely to return in Saturday’s Melbourne Derby. Perera who performed reasonably in the Bangladesh Premier League might be the ideal replacement for Bravo who underwent a surgery after suffering a hamstring tear during Renegade’s loss to Scorchers on December 29.

The all-rounder who played for the Brisbane Heat in BBL2 might be a very good choice of replacement as far as the Renegades are concerned. Perera was part of the Sri Lanka squad that played against Australia in August but was penalised for breaching the code of conduct during the 2nd ODI at Colombo when he and Aussie opener David Warner was involved in a verbal war. Meanwhile, fast bowler James Pattinson is all set to play his first game in BBL 6 after recuperating from a hamstring injury and has been named alongside Perera to take on the Melbourne Stars on Saturday. Pattinson hasn’t played any competitive cricket since February last year.

Renegades coach Andrew McDonald confirmed on Thursday that Peter Siddle was also on the line for making a comeback and could be seen donning the red jersey before the tournament ends. “He’s getting back into some work – he’s probably a little bit further away than James with where he’s at,” McDonald was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. “It’ll be a week-by-week thing with ‘Sidds’ but we hope he may be able to take some part in the back-end of the tournament which will be a massive inclusion come that time if we are at the business end.”

The Stars have made one obvious change after losing two games on a trot and has replaced Seb Gotch with Rob Quiney who will return from injury. While Quiney began the tournament with a match-winning performance in the first match, his replacement hasn’t been up to the mark and has failed to get going. With the Melbourne derby not less than 24 hours away, the Renegades will hope to come all guns blazing.

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