President Maithripala Sirisena has encouraged suspended Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Janith Perera to “stay strong” and “face the future with courage”.

Perera was recently withdrawn from the New Zealand tour squad after being tested positive for a banned substance.

“I phoned @KusalJPerera this evening, and encouraged him to stay strong and face the future with courage,” he wrote on Twitter. 

The President telephoned the cricketer and assured he would personally attend to the required matters to solve this problem, the President’s Media Division said. 

“It will be my pleasure to see him playing as great cricketer”, Sirisena was quoted as saying.

Perera’s shock suspension after failing a drugs test, two days before the start of the New Zealand series, left Sri Lanka reeling ahead of the two-Test series which commenced in Dunedin on Thursday.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said it has been advised that a sample provided by Perera for a random testing carried out by the ICC during the recent Pakistani Tour yielded a positive result for a banned substance.

However, SLC said it will take all steps required to have a further sample tested and make every endeavor to enable Kusal Janith Perera to resume playing cricket at the earliest opportunity in compliance with the ICC Regulations.