"That's why we lost the final" - 14 years after 2011 WC defeat, Thisara Perera points out 1 big reason why Sri Lanka lost to India [Exclusive]

April 2, 2025, will mark 14 years since India's historic 2011 World Cup win, and 14 years later, Sri Lanka's Thisara Perera still remembers the final match and what went wrong for his team. Perera was a part of the Sri Lankan playing XI that played against India in the big game on April 2, 2011, at the Wankhede Stadium.

In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda on the sidelines of the Asian Legends League in Nathdwara, Thisara Perera explained why Sri Lanka lost the final. The all-rounder played a fantastic cameo of 22 runs off just nine balls, which helped Sri Lanka finish with 274/6. A target of 275 had never been chased in a World Cup final before.

India lost two early wickets as well but half-centuries from Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni powered the Men in Blue to a memorable win. When asked about the reason Sri Lanka lost that game, Thisara Perera said:

"I feel that we missed a few catches. It's always said that 'catches win matches.' We missed that. So, that's the story of the final. Gambhir, Kohli, Dhoni and Yuvraj had good partnerships. That's why we lost the final. We took two huge wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Sehwag early. When we took the two wickets, we thought we are on the track but it did not happen."

Perera got one more opportunity to play in a World Cup final against India three years later at the T20 World Cup 2014. In that game, Perera smashed the winning hit for Sri Lanka on the occasion.

"It was really a dream come true" - Thisara Perera looks back at his World Cup career

As mentioned ahead, Thisara Perera played two World Cup finals against India, one in ODIs in 2011 and one in T20Is in 2014. His performance with the bat was quite impressive in both matches. Looking back at those two games, Perera said:

"All cricketers dream of playing in a World Cup, especially the World Cup Final. I had so many dreams. This is my best feeling when I hit the sixes in 2011 and 2014. It's really good now looking back. It was really a dream come true."

Thisara Perera is currently playing for the Sri Lankan Lions team in the Asian Legends League. He is the captain of the team and SLL have made it to the knockout phase in Nathdwara.