Perera: No time for Sri Lanka to dwell on the past

Sri Lanka have toiled in shorter formats this year, losing a one-day international series against Zimbabwe for the first time, leading to the resignation of Angelo Mathews as skipper, while they have been whitewashed 5-0 by India, Pakistan and South Africa.

Perera will be the seventh man to captain Sri Lanka across all formats in 2017 when they face India in three ODIs and three Twenty20s next month.

And for the 28-year-old, who has played 125 matches in 50-over cricket and 63 T20s, the focus is on the future.

"All teams go through tough patches, it's up to each of us to get past our mental barriers and perform best for our country," he said.

"The goal for each one of us is to bring glory to our country. This must be clearly stated.

"I can confidently say that although India are currently best in the world in all three formats, if you compare each player of our team with any player in the world [not only India] we are on par with the best of the best.

"My policy as captain is to stop dwelling on the past and failures, and to march forward together with my team, with our eyes firmly planted on the goal of bringing glory to our motherland.