When Kamindu Mendis made an impressive half-century against Australia in his hometown of Galle in 2022, everyone thought that he is there to stay. But he missed out on Test cricket for almost two years before making a memorable comeback in Bangladesh early this year. Kamindu has hit a purple patch in Test cricket having scored three centuries and two half-centuries in just four Tests.
Speaking to journalists ahead of the second Test match against England at Lord’s. the 25-year-old said that he has no regrets of missing out for almost two years.
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“I had got the chance to play for Sri Lanka after Dhananjaya de Silva tested positive for COVID. When he returned, I had to go out and it was a fair decision. Certain decisions were taken to balance the team. I knew that the team’s batting was packed and my chance of getting into the side was less. Although I wasn’t playing, I was always a part of the squad and it was a good learning experience spending time with seniors and learning,” Kamindu said.
This is Kamindu’s first tour to England representing any Sri Lankan side and he made an impressive start with a century in the first Test at Old Trafford.
“This is my first tour to England and it was challenging at Old Trafford. I wanted to keep things simple and do basic things right in the middle. It is a dream to play at Lord’s. When I was a boy, I always dreamt of playing at Lord’s. We had good crowds at Old Trafford and hope that will be the case here too. It’s a privilege to play at Lord’s and it’s every player’s dream. If we can win a Test match here, it will be the icing on the cake as we have never won here,” Kamindu explained.
Conditions at Old Trafford were challenging with the cold and wind but looks like Lord’s will be hot and humid and Sri Lanka should enjoy the conditions here.
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“We had challenging conditions in the first Test. It was much colder than we expected. I think we performed the best we could as a team under such circumstances. I had got a lot of support from other batters like Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal. A special mention of Chandimal as he batted with an injured finger and his innings was very important to the team. That inspired me to go for a hundred.”
