[1][2] In May 2021, he was named as the captain of the Sri Lankan team, ahead of their One Day International (ODI) series against Bangladesh.

[6] Educated at Kottawa Dharmapala Maha Vidyalaya,[7] and Royal College Colombo, he has represented the latter in the prestigious Royal–Thomian annual cricket encounter.

This switch has been influenced by the batting stance of the Sri Lankan legend, Sanath Jayasuriya - his childhood idol and hero.

[9] Prior to the start of the 2018 IPL season, he was approached by the Sunrisers Hyderabad team to replace their former captain David Warner who was banned for ball-tampering scandal against South Africa.

[15] He is known as a quick scorer, and can hit the ball very hard which has a same batting style of former Sri Lanka legend Sanath Jayasuriya.

He made his One day international debut against Australia in the 2nd ODI on January 13, 2013, replacing the injured Dinesh Chandimal, where he came to bat on number 4 and scored an unbeaten 14 from 16 balls before Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets.

Perera made his T20I debut in the first T20I against Australia in January 2013 and scored 33 from 22 balls before getting caught behind off Australian all rounder, Glenn Maxwell.

His arrival to the test team was not good at all, when he dropped Indian skipper Virat Kohli, but he went on to take 2 catches and 1 stumping in that innings.

[22] On 31 March 2013, T20I match during Bangladesh tour of Sri Lanka, Kusal Perera scored his maiden T20I half century.

[26] On 22 March 2014 against South Africa in 2014 ICC World Twenty20 pool match, Perera scored 61 runs from just 40 balls.

Perera was not qualified for the squad for 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup tournament due to poor performance against India and England.

His urine sample was provided for a random test by the International Cricket Council during the home series against Pakistan in May 2015.

Meanwhile, Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara informed that there is a conspiracy behind this scandal is to withdraw Kusal from 2016 ICC World Twenty20 tournament due to his effectiveness in the format.

[43] The integrity of the laboratory that tested the sample was brought into question, with the ICC hiring an independent expert to find that the lab's outcome was not sustainable.

[43] Perera had spent some of his own money on fighting the charges, including travelling to the UK to undergo further tests to clear his name.

[44] After being cleared, Perera said "I don't think there has been much damage done to my reputation", after the media, fans and Sri Lankan Cricket Board stood by him.

[44] On July 6, ICC has agreed to support Sri Lanka Cricket and Kusal Perera's claim for costs and damages from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

[45] After being cleared from suspicion of doping, Kusal replaced injured seamer Dhammika Prasad in Sri Lanka Test squad for the rest of the England tour.

The score consisted wide range of thrashing shot, which was compared to Jayasuriya by Zimbabweans who witnessed this for the first time in their soil.

[49] After poor performances in South African test tour, Perera was dropped from the ODI and T20I squad.

[53] During the same match, he broke Kumar Sangakkara's record to become the fastest Sri Lankan to reach 1000 T20I runs (34 innings).

[63] During second Test at Canberra, Perera forced to retire hurt after sustaining a nasty blow to the side of the helmet off a Jhye Richardson bouncer.

Even though after immediate medical attention, he continued to bat four more Richardson deliveries, he appeared to be feeling the effects of the blow.

Sri Lanka started the match positively, but wickets at regular intervals eyeing a comfortable win for Proteas.

[67] The 78-run partnership between Perera and Fernando was recorded as the highest last-wicket stand in a successful chase in test cricket history.

However, with excellent bowling by Nuwan Pradeep and Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka won the match by 34 runs in DLS method.

[76] On November 1, 2019, 3rd T20I match of Sri Lanka tour of Australia, Kusal Perera scored fighting half century.

His 11th T20I half century, he scored 57 runs from 45 balls hitting four boundaries and one six and half century helped to a decent target to Sri Lanka team but Sri Lanka lost the match by 7 wickets and also lose the series.

[86] After the loss of both T20Is and ODIs, he was released from the captaincy and Dasun Shanaka was appointed as the limited overs captain for Indian series at home.

[93] On 17 October 2024 against West Indies in the third T20I, Perera made a match winning knock of an unbeaten 55 runs: his fifteenth fifty in T20Is, where he guided Sri Lanka to the victory and clinched the series 2–1.