– Scored 1023 Test runs in 2018, 2nd highest in world and most by a Sri Lankan
– 5th youngest batsman to score 1000+ Test runs in a year in Test history
– Scored 1512 International runs in 2018, most by a Sri Lankan
– 3 Test centuries in 2018, most by a Sri Lankan batsman
– His 196 was the 3rd highest Test score in 2018, highest for a Sri Lankan
– His Test partnerships (308 with DDS) and (274* with Angelo) top two highest in world cricket in 2018
– His 274* with Angelo partnership is SL’s 2nd highest 4th wicket partnership
– Batted an entire day in New Zealand Test with Angelo, only 4th SL pair, 1st pair in world cricket over 10 years (since 29 Feb 2008)
– Scored 4301 International runs in 110 matches before the age of 24, only Mahela (5918 runs in 141 matches) scored more for SL
– Scored 2527 Test runs in 36 Tests before the age of 24, only Mahela (3076 in 42 Tests) scored more for SL
– Scored 6 Test centuries before the age of 24, only Mahela (9) scored more for SL
– 34 International catches in 2018, most by a non keeper in world
– 21 Test catches in 2018, most by a non keeper in world
– 91 International catches since 01st January 2016, most by a non keeper in world
He is a victim of those FB page admins who begs ‘like’s, ‘share’s and ‘comments. What he is going through is the difficult passage through which every SL batsmen had to go due to our poor infrastructure of cricket. Apart he was unfortunate to represent the country in the darkest era of SL cricket and in such a young age he has been a main stray of the team. Ideally, this is the period he has to grow under seniors. in between multiple failures, he shows his potential. He has already done things which the great Virat kohli has not done and things we did not expect from sanga, mahela and aravinda even in our dreams..
Yes he’s done well so far,sad to see people without any cricketing sense making fun of him.social media is a double edged sword, sportsmen are better off staying out of social media.
mendis also needs to work on his technique especially cover driving and leaving balls outside the off stump.
Hopefully he can turn around his ODI game. his form has been horrible since july 2017(as you’ve neglected to mention)positive thoughts i get it!.Hopefully he’ll light up the world cup.
I keep seeing ridiculous posts comparing KM to UT which is absolutely mind boggling. I have no clue what people have against this kid or why he is continuously a point of discussion to being dropped and replaced by UT. In 10 years time this guy will be spoken of in the same breath as Sanga and Mahela. Be patient with him. He has had some brilliant knocks in his short career (along with the occasional brain fade moments too). His slip catching is probably the best in the team and his general fielding is top notch too. Give him time people. He will come good. His comparison stats to Mahel and Sanga around the same age would be on par I would reckon.
Daniel — Your article heading needs a big correction…as “How good is Kusal Mendis in TEST Cricket?
Otherwise it becomes meaningless article heading . No one can deny the fact that Mendis is naturally gifted to play longer version of the game adjusting well to it’s demands. But that doesn’t mean he can become a good ODI batter as well (as already proven with costly 50+ matches wasted on him bringing total disaster & contributing massively to the decline of ODI standard in past 2+ yrs).
Kusal Mendis had played 57 ODIs @ pathetic 26 Av – showing further decline in ODIs, unable to cope-up with the demands of shorter version, against stronger opponents (in 2018 – 16 Av/ in 2019 – 12 Av) . Kusal Mendis’ last 17 ODI innings yielded sorrily 268 runs @ 15 Av for poor SL – heavily contributing to the defeats against Eng/ SA/ NZ / & BD/Afganistan ensuring instant exit from Asia bringing continuing misery to ODI side with the adorable COURTESY of his angel Coach Hathurusinghe .!
There were/are many other classic Test batters similar to him (Ie: Dimuth, Chandimal, Thilan Samaraweera etc. ) seen in the past & present with limited talent & skills specifically suited just for Test cricket. They never blossomed in ODIs & would have been much better off, if they had confined their entire careers focusing only on Test cricket, when found-out their total failure in limited-overs arena . Persisting with such players, expecting to cross over the line at some point out of their naturally gifted scope had never ever worked out, as evident from history.
A batter with good temperament & exceptional ability to play longer innings doesn’t mean that he is a readily available ingredient to mold a hero in fast-paced arena as well. Most of such will never become successful limited over guys as already proven with many cases in history ( ie: Thilan Samaraweera 50+ Odis @ 27 Av – SR 60s / this decade’s fast-paced era debuted Chandimal, even after playing 146 ODIs over Nine years, could NOT Improve his match dwindling Strike Rates – 59 in 2017 /SR 76 in 2018 / SR 43 in 2019… became a huge bottle-neck to the ODI team in most doomed matches – costing heavily for SL).
Let this guy Kusal Mendis confined to Test Cricket only along with Chandimal (as Dimuth) . If the authorities are brainy enough, that way you can avoid this youngster’s inconsistency reflected in his Test cricket today… obviously due to his unending string of miserable failures in ODI cricket. If you want to protect this guy from breaking down totally, that is the essential must need to be done right now to get the maximum out of his born talent. !
For me this is the real thing but I presume we will drop him soon and expect him to blossom on the bench! His issues are with shot selection, particularly as he arrives. I think his ability to make runs is no longer up for debate – only Kholi got more in 2018 and this guy made hardly any runs at home.
He reminds me of a young Aravinda and my call is he must play all forms of cricket. Yes he is not doing well in limited overs cricket but then who is. The question is if we can this guy up and running in limited overs cricket with KJP at #3 – we will have a solid base.