Former Sri Lankan cricketer Tillakaratne Dilshan, has decided to support the opposition leader and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) candidate Sajith Premadasa at the upcoming Presidential Election.
Dilshan has joined the Samagi Jana Balawegaya with the aim of supporting Sajith Premadasa’s journey of building the country, the party said in a statement.
Tillakaratne Dilshan, commonly known as TM Dilshan, had represented the Sri Lankan national cricket team for almost 17 years and also served as the team’s captain for a period.
Tillakaratne Dilshan served as the captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team, across formats between May 2010 and January 2012.
Dilshan made his international debut in 1999 and was part of the Sri Lanka team that won the World Twenty20 in 2014. He appeared in 87 Tests, 329 ODIs and 78 T20 games for Sri Lanka.
Dilshan announced his retirement from Test cricket on 9 October 2013. He retired from ODI cricket on 28 August 2016 and from T20I cricket on 9 September 2016.
Dilshan publicly displayed his support to Mahinda Rajapaksa at the 2015 Presidential Election while he obtained membership of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) in November 2018.
Meanwhile, former Sri Lankan cricketer Hashan Thilakaratne had also joined the SJB recently in order to support Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa during the upcoming Presidential Election.