Kamindu Mendis here to stay

by Rex Clementine

Most of you, followers of Sri Lankan cricket, would agree that the toughest opponent in the sport is Australia. Very friendly people off the field, the Aussies suffer from something called the ‘white line fever’, meaning the moment they cross that white line or rope, they come hard at you.

Romesh Kaluwitharana on debut had to save a hat-trick at SSC. He was facing Shane Warne of all people and Kalu remembers that it was quite an ordeal. But he survived going on to make a hundred on debut.

Kamindu Mendis was facing a similar scenario when he was thrown to the deep end against Pat Cummins Aussies in 2022. He fared well making 61 in Sri Lanka’s only innings. The team won the game by an innings but soon Kamindu was forgotten.

A former Sri Lanka Under-19 captain, Kamindu has many aspects that impresses you. In recent times, we have been looking too much into talent and technique while not much attention has been paid for character, work ethic and temperament. Kamindu brings all of that to the equation.

The former Richmond College player has been scoring heavily in domestic cricket. He was overlooked even when there was a batting collapse against Pakistan last year. When Ireland were in town for two Tests, you at least hoped that he featured in one game, but not to be.

Some players have permanent slots in the team and why Sri Lankan cricket has struggled in recent years is because the selectors have had favourites.

Kudos to the present selection committee, who have done well to pick players on merit. They have also sent a clear message that talent and seniority alone aren’t factors for earning selection. Performance has got to be the main criterion and rightly so.

It was a smart move to hand the wicketkeeping gloves to Kusal Mendis and bring in Kamindu Mendis at number seven replacing Sadeera Samarawickrama.

Needless to say, that if not for Kamindu’s effort, this Test match could have been a close affair with the pitch tailormade for fast bowlers and Sri Lanka’s top order collapsing in both innings against the new ball.

Scoring a century is a fabulous thing on your comeback game but to score hundreds in each innings is out of this world. Not even the great Kumar Sangakkara has been able to do it. These were not just twin hundreds, but hundreds on a demanding surface.

It goes on to show young Kamindu’s hunger. He has been given a raw deal all these while and the moment he sees an opening, he just doesn’t grab it from both hands but gobbles it.

Selectors will be tempted to push him to number three now that he has made some big runs. Yes, it’s true that he plays at three in domestic cricket, but then, number seven is one of the toughest positions and not many succeed there. Kamindu is ideal for the role. He can bat with the tail, farming the strike from them and clearing the boundary when necessary. He should be allowed to develop where he has made a mark.