Kusal Mendis – New Gold to Sri Lanka Cricket
When Sri Lanka lost their most steadfast servants of the game in recent times in Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara a few years ago by retirement, it was a huge loss in terms of gold. For, the team’s batting essentially revolved around the twosome with Sangakkara, in the pivotal No.3 slot and Jayawardene manning No.4. It was a twosome that in terms of value was massive tower that any opposition had to cross to undo Sri Lanka. Many were the times the two gelled together in a chalk and cheese like combination of taking their country to the summit of champagne victories. Most memorable is the 624-run 4th-wicket all time great record partnership when Jayawardene struck 374 and Sangakkara made 287 in an innings triumph against South Africa in a home test match.
Since those giant killing days of Jayawardene and Sangakkara, Sri Lanka has been yearning for a new messiah. The last 2 to 3 years have been hard as the island nation cruises in a fine-comb of its harvest of young batting talent. There have been great expectations for the future. While skipper Angelo Mathews has proved to be the Blockbuster with the bat for his abounding talent, Dinesh Chandimal, the young vice captain has been blood stirring talent for his right handed talent with the bat. Similarly, the left handed young Lahiru Thirimanne too has been an entertaining willow wielder. Both have displayed the type of talent that has made the national selectors look upon the duo as future torchbearers of Sri Lankan cricket. That the exit of Jayawardene and Sangakkara with it has put the onus on the front liners to come good in all three forms of the game y the day reflects how competitive international cricket has become by the day. We hear of new goliaths appearing on the stage at regular intervals. While India has Virat Kohli after the long serving great Sachin Tendulkar, Australia has come to look upon Steve Smith as its deliverer with the bat. England too after Kevin Pietersen has found a faithful in Joe Root while South Africa has turned to De Villiers and New Zealand to Kane Williamson.
It is such a whiz kid canter that Sri Lanka mounts its cricket on a new journey in a post-Jayawardene/Sangakkara era. The demands are multi faceted. Not only do the ranks have been fine-combing for a Jayawardene and a Sangakkara. The need to getting back to top strength in regaining its once pristine winning clout is the overall priority of the island nation; an island nation that has had a tremendously great voyage since gaining Test status from the ICC in 1981. These include winning cricket’s greatest extravaganza and its latest hamburger – the T20 World Cup in 2014. It is such a quest of exciting new talent that the emergence of the young 21-year old Kusal Mendis does stir the pulse to a point of truly great expectations.
Hailing from the cricket crazy city of Moratuwa Mendis, who debuted against the West Indies in 2015, has conjured hopes of the new messiah Sri Lanka has been looking for. That he arrived on the stage when the team was looking for solidness in the pivotal No.3 slot as a little bundle of energy in a Sri Lankan scenario when the chips were down is more the remarkable. If his first innings duck put the onus on the youngster, that he came through it in flying colours in such a challenging scenario with a half century of aplomb is what makes Balapuwaduge Kusal Gimhan Mendis born on February 2, 1995, look exciting stuff. What makes the medium built slender looking colt look exciting is the reassuring trait of clean hitting – a trait young batsmen like Greg Chappell infused when thrown to the wild as a colt. Indeed, composure and self assurance are two effective blending components that contemporary batsmen fight shy of on the big stage, and the Sri Lankan displaying these essential components at a raw age must be heartening to the selectors. The lad does evoke a semblance of an Aravinda De Silva in the making going by the consummate comfortable ability with which he played the England bowlers. The youngster has certainly evoked memories of the young Aravinda De Silva and Jayawardene sparring with opposing bowlers.
Certainly Mendis has been the gold sovereign to Sri Lanka in an England tour where he went on to underline his value input with a 26 and 35 at Durham. He rose in stature as the tour progressed with scores of 53 and 77 in the ODIs in even time underwriting the potential of sustaining the run rate in the biff bang game. His performances in both the longer and shorter versions of cricket in rising to two contrastingly different needs also goes to signify the potential in the youngster. Mendis has been highly spoken of as a youth cricketer of success who was discovered from the school periphery. Indeed, he is a find the captain and selectors could look to in the build-up drive for trhe future.
