Chief selector shields Kusal Mendis despite below average performance
View(s):In his last eight Test matches, the elegant Kusal Mendis has averaged just above 22 runs an inning, at least 13 runs lower than his career average of 35.15. This has not been a major concern for the selectors, who have selected him for each tour played during the last 12 months, given the promise the youngster has shown early in his career. His 176 against Australia in 2016 on Sri Lanka’s way to a historic whitewash against the men from Down Under attracted many supporters who considered him to be Sri Lanka’s next-big-thing after batting great Aravinda de Silva.
Mendis has played some match-winning knocks thereafter earning applauds from the greats but the lack of consistency has fans fuming over his continuous selection despite mediocre performances every now and then.
The pressure is back on Mendis and on the selectors once again after he made just 23 runs in three innings batting at the vital number three slot against Pakistan. But the selectors are adamant to pursue with the 24-year-old former Prince of Wales skipper citing that the young man is destined for greatness if nurtured properly.
“He has a technical issue,” said the chief selector Ashantha de Mel. “We have identified this. He will be working with new batting coach Grant Flower in rectifying it.”
“We know there’s lot of pressure to drop Mendis but he is a brilliant batsman and a safe fielder with a great future, so we need to protect him. Dropping him at this point will not do any good to him, rather it will demoralize him further. All I can say is to have faith in him, and once he gets this technical glitch rectified, he will back strongly.”
Mendis has just two half centuries in his last eight matches with a best of 84 not out against South Africa in a winning cause.
Though there has not been any outstanding performance in ODI cricket, he has done better improving his average during the last 12 months. In 19 innings he has scored 587 runs with three half centuries at 32.16, better than his career average of 29.01 in 73 innings.
In T20Is, Mendis has a strike rate of 134 and has hit 21 sixes and 40 boundaries in his 24 innings but his batting average is below 20 runs per an innings – a far cry for a top order bat.
Interestingly his form has dipped further in the past 12 months with 140 coming off his eight innings with a best career best score of 79 against New Zealand in September at Pallekele.
“He has five half centuries in T20s only behind Kusal Perera. He has a good strike rate and he is a powerful striker of the ball. Are we going to shut him off because of a bad patch. I think, we must protect him,” added de Mel.
Commenting on Sri Lanka’s Test series loss to Pakistan, de Mel said it was a disappointing result particularly after taking a sizeable first innings lead.
“Look, our bowling was mediocre especially in the second innings,” he said. Sri Lanka bowled out Pakistan for 191 runs in the first innings but conceded 550 runs, taking just three Pakistan wickets with none of the bowlers – seam or spin managing to threaten the batsmen.
“We are now grappling with a serious problem of finding a match winning spinner. Lasith Embuldeniya bowled well but we did not get the same support from Dilruwan Perera. So we need to find a good spinner who can take wickets,” he explained.
Perera, who has taken 156 wickets in 41 Test matches, was wicketless in the three innings he bowled in Pakistan.