Vijayakanth Viyaskanth was recommended as a net bowler for the IPL’s Rajasthan Royals by the former Sri Lanka captain and the ex-MCC President Kumar Sangakkara.

Sangakkara is the Director of Cricket at the Royals franchise team.

Speaking to Daily Mirror, Viyaskanth said, "First of all I would like to thank the Rajasthan Royals team for giving me such a wonderful opportunity. I heartily thank the respected Sangakkara for recommending my name as a net bowler.”

"I performed well in the LPL (Lanka Premier League) and the BPL (Bangladesh Premier League). I gained more experience in playing these big tournaments. Now I will be able to bowl at the world's leading batters in the IPL. The IPL is a big tournament. Though, at present I am there only as a new bowler but my hope is to take part in it".

"Yes, I have much confidence now but being a youngster, I need to improve my skills which will be gained by doing hard work in my field. I wish to play for our national Sri Lankan team and establish my place in the T-20 team,” he said.

Viyaskanth will be in India at the earliest once his visa formalities are completed this weekend.

He will be based at Nagpur for the team's training sessions. 

(Bipin Dani)