Mendis is back and needs to rise to the occasion

Rex Clementine in Bangalore

Sri Lanka’s net session at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore yesterday was taking place behind closed doors. The session was limited for the press and the local cricket authorities. Among the handful of locals, the talking point was the brilliance of Kusal Mendis. His wristy stroke play against pace and stepping out to spinners and lofting the ball to the stands was a frequent sight. Not a single time did he mishit, not a single time was he beaten for pace, not a single time the spinners had the better of him. When Mendis is in full flow, there are no better sights in cricket. The question is can he transform the excellence in the net at the Test match.

The locals have seen little of Mendis. He has never played in India before. Strange, for a guy who debuted in 2015 and has been an integral part of the side. One reason is that Graham Labrooy dropped him for the 2017 tour amidst much opposition. Labrooy argued that there is no point in having so much talent if you don’t covert starts into match winning ones.

That’s exactly been Kusal’s problem. He can make a formidable bowling line-up look ordinary but finds silly ways to gift his wicket after being well set. This infuriates selectors and team mates.

Twice in his career he has been dismissed just one stroke away from a double hundred. Having watched the man closely you can assume that he was trying to do an Aravinda de Silva, reach the milestone with a six as on both occasions he was caught in the deep. You can understand it happening once. But the same error twice, that infuriates people.

Then obviously there were off the field distractions. Thankfully, he looks to have put all the disappointments behind him and set to rebuild his career. At one point, it was just a matter of time before he was anointed as the next captain. But now he’s got to convince a lot of people. But before that, he needs to score big runs. With the team under pressure, having lost the opening encounter by an innings and 222 runs inside three days, the Bangalore Test match is the ideal opportunity.

Not all his seven Test hundreds have come against Zimbabwe or Bangladesh. There was that stunning 176 against Mitchell Starc and co at Pallekele very early in his career. It was his seventh Test match and the first international hundred.

Then there was an equally good 141 not out in Wellington in 2018 and a classy 110 against India six months earlier.

During all those knocks, the bowlers had run out of ideas. With an impregnable defence and wonderful stroke play, the bowlers were at his mercy before Mendis threw it away. Good international batsmen learn quicker to value their wickets. For Mendis it has taken longer than people like. But he has begun to show the hunger and this could be the turnaround for Mendis that people have been waiting for.

Mendis will play the game in place of Pathum Nissanka, who has complained about back pain. He is expected to occupy the number three position. He missed the first Test due to a hamstring injury.