From ‘Mr. Ambidextrous’ to ‘Mr. Reliable’
Today, just seven days away from his 26th birthday, Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis is known around the world for reasons beyond that are remarkable. After seven Tests and 11 innings (excluding the second innings in ongoing Test match against New Zealand), Kamindu has already indicated of his intention of altering his reputation from ‘Mr. Ambidextrous’ to ‘Mr. Dependable’. But his true intention runs way beyond from what he has already shown.
“I’m truly pleased to have my name alongside records. But I never thought or premeditate more than what I should do at the middle. This is just the beginning of my Test career and the journey is a long one. I do have objectives to achieve going forward. But my prime responsibility is to contribute to the team’s success, and others, such as records, would easily fall in place,” Kamindu told reporters soon after his fourth Test ton.
Hailing from Sri Lanka’s southern city of Galle, where Sri Lanka host New Zealand in a two-match Test series at the picturesque international stadium with the legendary Dutch Fort as its backdrop, the venue is somewhere Kamindu has played most of his cricket as a schoolboy. An integral member of the Richmond College senior cricket team for many years, Kamindu has appeared in many games at the Galle International Stadium, where the famous Lovers’ Quarrel, an annual inter-school cricket big match encounter played against Mahinda College since 1905.
But as a juvenile he initially had restrictions from his father Chandraratne Mendis, a modest businessman who was Kamindu’s strength of tower during his early days as a junior cricketer.
“After getting through Grade 5 scholarship, I allowed him to play cricket. Three years he played for the U-13 team at Richmond and in the last year, as captain, he won a title. He developed through the years, and his commitment and dedication to the sport has been the core secret,” the now-more-proud father recalled, when Kamindu became the schoolboy cricketer of the year in 2018.
The very same Galle International Stadium was where Kamindu reached many milestones as a cricketer, but his latest of the list will be etched for many more years to come. On Wednesday, September 18, with his remarkable knock of 114 off 171 deliveries against New Zealand, which helped Sri Lanka recover from 106-4 to reach 300 plus, Kamindu equaled a rare record in Test cricket.
With that knock Kamindu became the second international cricketer to score 50 runs or more in each of his first seven Tests, a triumph occurred just once before in Test cricket’s history of 147 years. Pakistan’s Saud Shakeel became the first to achieve the feat last year, to score 50 runs or more in each of his games up to his seventh Test. Prior to that India’s Sunil Gavaskar, Pakistan’s Saeed Ahmed, Basil Butcher of the West Indies and New Zealander Bert Sutcliffe achieved the same feat, but in each of their first six Tests.
After his last Test against England few weeks ago, Kamindu’s average stood at 77.22 in six Tests. But with his well-composed 114, his fourth Test century besides the four 50-plus knocks in the 11 innings, Kamindu’s average reached 80.90, second only to Sir Don Bradman, the legendary Australian batsman. Sir Bradman’s average reads as 99.94, the best among No.5 or lower batsmen in a minimum of 10 Test innings.
“I never worried about my batting position in the team. I always wanted to deliver the best at whatever position I bat, and I always make sure to stick to the basics. Playing for the country always provides me the exposure to come forward,” Kamindu added.
At his hometown in Galle, Kamindu also stands the chance to come close to the all-time record of becoming one of the quickest to reach 1000 Test runs. The record for the least innings taken to reach 1,000 runs in Tests, which is 12, is jointly held by Sutcliffe and Weekes. Or he could join Bradman, who reached 1000 Test runs in 13 innings, or Neil Harvey and Vinod Kambli, who took 14 innings to reach the feat. He has all the potential to outsmart India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal, who took 16 innings to reach 1,000 runs, against England earlier this year.
“I was born in Galle and attended Richmond College. I always like to play well at my home ground, the Galle International Stadium and I’m happy to reach a century in front of my home crowd. As a batsman my intention always is to go for a bigger knock, but unfortunately I couldn’t continue from 114.”
But surely, this kind of an appraisal bringing Kamindu’s name alongside the world greats in Test cricket, as well as rare batting records, wouldn’t be a possibility before March this year. His twin tons against Bangladesh in Sylhet, 102 and 164, that led Sri Lanka to a 328-run in the first Test only made Kamindu’s return to Test cricket after 20 months a matter to ponder. Previously, he made his Test debut on July 8, 2022 against Australia, with a first innings knock of 61.
During the Test sabbatical, where Sri Lanka were engaged in five Test series up until his return 20 months later against the Bangladesh series, Kamindu has made sure to do his bit of homework with intentions of making a strong comeback. During the period, Kamindu was featured twice in the ODI side and turned out in 11 T20Is for Sri Lanka, to reach 190 ODI runs in nine games and 280 runs after 16 T20Is.
He also sought advice from his school coach at Richmond, Dhammika Sudarshana, now part of Sri Lanka Cricket’s national coaching structure, to further fine-tune his batting. That helped his consistency as a batsman, following his form after the return where Kamindu went on to make an unbeaten 92, followed by 9 runs in the second Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram.
Against England, he made 12 and 113 at Manchester, followed by 74 and 4 at The Lord’s and a 64 at The Oval, in the game where Sri Lanka managed to record a Test win against England after a decade. After six Tests and 10 innings, batting at No.7 or No.8, Kamindu’s tally ended on 695 runs at an average of 77.22. Just after eight days from playing his sixth Test at The Oval, Kamindu was promoted to No.5 in the batting order in the first game against New Zealand.
Remarkably he only cemented his reputation as Sri Lanka’s saviour with a courageous century, probably the comeback Kamindu had intended. His intentions, as they clearly indicate now, is to go beyond the mile and become Sri Lanka’s next ‘Mr. Reliable’, a global reputation former national stars Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena earned through sheer commitment.