Why play Thisara?

Even before the verdict of the first ODI between Sri Lanka and India was out, cricket fans were questioning the logic of including Thisara Perera in the final 11. 

On Sunday Thisara was bowled for a duck after facing five balls. When he bowled his two overs he cost the team 18 runs, making him the second most expensive bowler. Before Sunday’s match, his ODI batting average was 17 and in bowling it was 32.

In 119 matches/89 innings he has managed to score 1,350 runs at an average of 17.5. His ODI bowling average is 32.41 with 129 wickets off 113 innings/4,319 balls for 4,163 runs. Thisara last figured in a Sri Lanka team in that infamous and crucial Champions Trophy match against Pakistan in June in London where he dropped a sitter - considered among the five costliest drops of the tournament.  He also played a few games for Gloucestershire in the Natwest T20 Blast. Before he was recalled for national dutiy, Thisara claimed 10 wickets in seven group matches with his seam bowling since joining Gloucestershire. However Thisara’s inclusion could be because of his form in the NatWest T20 Blast and his hat-trick against India in a T20 played in Pune in 2016.