Reports: Kusal Perera turns down the chance to join Sunrisers Hyderabad as David Warner's replacement

Sri Lanka's flamboyant batsman Kusal Perera has supposedly decided against joining Sunrisers Hyderabad as David Warner's replacement. Reportedly, the 27-year-old wants to play in Sri Lanka's domestic first-class tournament to regain his Test spot.

Reports emerged yesterday that the Hyderabad-based franchise was interested in getting the left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman on board for the 2018 IPL after skipper Warner was handed a ban of a year by Cricket Australia.

"Yes, we have approached Kusal Perera as a replacement for Warner. Like Warner, he is also a devastating batsman and our analyst informed us that he has been in tremendous form in last few months. Though nothing has finalized as yet, we are hopeful Perera will join our squad," a Sunrisers Hyderabad official had told Cricket Age.

Perera, who last played in a Test match for his home side back in 2016, has been vying for a comeback ever since. Though this was a golden opportunity for the opener to make a mark in the lucrative T20 league, his decision to stay back seems sensible.

Sri Lanka's Kusal Janith Perera has reportedly rejected an IPL offer (Warner replacement) to play domestic first-class tournament to work on Test recall. @KusalJPerera #SriLanka #LKA

— Daniel Alexander (@daniel86cricket) March 30, 2018

As far as Sunrisers Hyderabad are concerned, Perera, though not as good as Warner, would have been a decent replacement. His recent performances have been noteworthy as well and he would've been a good choice for SRH's opening slot which is vacant as of now.

If SRH fail to sign a worthy replacement for Warner, then they might go ahead with Shikhar Dhawan-Kane Williamson(the newly-appointed skipper) pair at the top and strengthen the middle order instead. Players of the calibre of Joe Root, Hashim Amla and Martin Guptill are still available and it remains to be seen whether the Hyderabad-based franchise gets one of them on board.

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