Kusal Mendis continued his purple patch of form, scoring an epic counter-attacking century against Pakistan, writes Naman Agarwal, from Hyderabad.
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It’s the third over of the innings. Shaheen Afridi, one of the deadliest fast bowlers with the new ball, is running in to bowl with the crowd behind his back, however small it might be. He delivers a length ball outside off. The usual shape into the right hander isn’t there, but the area is still spot on.
Of all the shots that you could imagine a batter playing to that ball, a pick-up slog over mid-wicket with one knee on the ground wouldn’t be one of those, particularly given the context of the situation. But the batter in question is Kusal Mendis. Throughout his career, he has rarely met expectations, either underperforming or exceeding them. Today, he opted for the latter.
It took three attempts for the Hyderabad crowd to finally turn up. The peak attendance for the first two games at the venue was less than 10,000, close to the starting number for this match. Perhaps the realization that this was their last opportunity of experiencing the World Cup was the push they needed. And Mendis put on a show and a half for them.
The slog off Afridi was the first boundary of his innings, the first of 20, and yet it was the most representative of Mendis the batter – audacious, innovative, and skilful. Over the next 72 deliveries he faced, Mendis cut, pulled, drove, and slogged some more, sending the Pakistan bowlers on a leather hunt, not much different to the one he sent the South African bowlers on a few nights back in Delhi.
Forever known as the ultra-talented batter who could single-handedly turn a game on its head, but actually doing so all too rarely, Mendis finally seems to have turned a corner. He has put up some hard-to-believe performances over the years, but they have been far and few between. Now, there is more regularity.
His maiden Test century, a second-innings epic against Australia in Pallekele in 2016, where he scored exactly half the team’s runs – 176 out of a total of 353 – gave the world a glimpse of what he was capable of. A match-winning 89 off 93 balls against India at the 2017 Champions Trophy showed that he could bring the goods at the big stage.
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A rearguard action in Wellington in 2018 where, along with Angelo Mathews, he batted the entire fourth day to save Sri Lanka a Test match displayed his range. Two months later, his 84 off 110 in the fourth innings in Gqeberha sealed Sri Lanka a Test series in South Africa, the same one which is remembered for his namesake Kusal Perera’s blinder.
In between, however, came prolonged periods of frustration. An average of 17 from 13 ODIs in 2018, an arrest after a car accident in 2020, four consecutive ducks in Tests in 2021, and disciplinary issues sprinkled here and there, all added up to contribute to the fear that Mendis might never fully realise his true potential. Consistency has consistently evaded him. Until now.
Five of his last seven knocks in ODIs have been fifty-plus scores. His 92 against Afghanistan at the Asia Cup started off the streak. A sedate 50 off 73 balls on a tough R Premadasa surface against Bangladesh followed, before his 91 off 87 in the do-or-die Super Fours clash against Pakistan took Sri Lanka home in a nail-biter.
Coming into the World Cup, there were talks of handing Mendis the captaincy in place of Dasun Shanaka. Leadership is not new to him. Mendis was the captain of Sri Lanka at the 2014 Under-19 World Cup and has been the vice-captain of the current team for a while now. The move might not have gone through, but it was a vote of confidence in Mendis the batter. Sri Lanka were now feeling assured of his returns.
Two matches into the World Cup, the assurance has only increased. Chasing an improbable target of 429 against South Africa in Delhi, Sri Lanka needed to make a statement with the bat. Mendis led the charge with a 42-ball 76 that included eight sixes. They lost the match by 102 runs, but a statement was made.
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Today, after losing Perera in the second over of the innings, the more conservative tactic from Sri Lanka’s point of view would have been to tread with caution against the likes of Afridi and capitalize later. However, ‘conservative’ and ‘caution’ are two words not present in Mendis’ dictionary.
He reached his fifty off 40 balls before accelerating further. The next 50 came in 25. A pick-up six over mid-wicket brought up his hundred off just 65 balls, the sixth-fastest in World Cup history. The zone he was in, anything other than a six to bring up a century would have been a surprise. With 23.5 overs still left in the Sri Lankan innings, it was scary to think of what Mendis could have achieved.
Two overs later, a slog off Hasan Ali made a sound sweet enough to break through the glass barrier of the press box and still be loud. The DJ at the ground implored the crowd, now nearly 20,000 strong, to follow his chants of “Kusal” with chants of “Mendis”. The crowd obliged.
He was dismissed two balls later, caught at the mid-wicket boundary, attempting another one of his trademark slogs. As he walked back having scored 122 off 77 balls, the Hyderabad crowd gave him a well-deserved standing ovation. Mendis had once again failed to meet expectations. He had once again exceeded them. Lately, it has become a habit.
