Possessed of a short backlift, powerful forearms and relentless bloody-mindedness, left-handed batsman Kushal Janith Perera’s batting is not just inspired by his hero Sanath Jayasuriya’s technique, at times, it seems an exact duplicate.

Like Jayasuriya, he has a second skill – though it is wicketkeeping rather than slow left-arm, and he was part of Sri Lanka’s Under-19 teams, before he joined Colts Cricket Club as a senior. At Colts, Perera quickly set about forging a career founded on aggression and reliability in equal parts, and after two seasons, Sri Lanka’s selectors could no longer ignore him.