Kamindu Mendis has beat off competition for Ireland pacer Mark Adair and New Zealand speedster Matt Henry to win the ICC Men’s Player of the Month Award for March 2024.
Mendis became the third Sri Lankan after Prabath Jayasuriya and Wanindu Hasaranga to win the Men’s prize. The batter sees this award as a source of inspiration for his future in international cricket.
“I am extremely happy to be named the ICC Men’s Player of the Month, which I consider an inspiration for my international career,” Mendis expressed. “A recognition such as this motivates and makes us as players work more and more to deliver in the middle for the team, country, and fans.
“I also wish the very best for the other two players who were nominated along with me, Mark Adair and Matt Henry, whom I consider excellent players and good competitors.”
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It has been a return to remember for the 25-year-old, who came back to the Sri Lanka setup for the first time since 2022. Mendis started the month with 68 runs in the three-match series against Bangladesh, of which 37 came in the second T20I off 27 balls.
He outshone himself in the longer format, delivering an exceptional performance by scoring centuries in both innings of the first Test against the same opponents.
Walking in to bat when Sri Lanka were in big trouble at 57/5, he stitched a massive 202-run stand with Dhananjaya de Silva to take the team to a respectable total of 280. Both the batters got to a century, with Mendis scoring 102.
After skittling out Bangladesh for 188, the duo once again rescued the visitors and cemented their dominance over Bangladesh with individual centuries. Mendis, batting at No.8 with the score at 126/6, crafted a career-best 164 runs adorned with 16 fours and 6 sixes.
In doing so, Mendis become the first player batting at number seven or lower to hit two centuries in a single Test.
Sri Lanka posted 418 and bowled Bangladesh out for 182, winning the match by a massive margin of 328 runs.
