Kamindu’s mantra behind 92.16 average: ‘Keep calm, make limited opportunities count’

Kamindu Mendis‘ second-innings 113 for Sri Lanka in their defeat to England in Manchester left him with a batting average of 92.16. It is the second-highest in Test history among players with more than 500 runs, and he explained at Lord’s ahead of Thursday’s second Test that it owes to a simple mantra: “Do basic things, and try to keep calm.”

Kamindu made his debut against Australia two years ago, deputising for Dhananjaya de Silva on account of a positive Covid test. He made 61 in an innings win but had to bide his time for another opportunity, eventually returning to the side earlier this year and making twin hundreds against Bangladesh in Sylhet.

“I knew that the batting was packed, but what I tried to do was to do as best as I could in the chance that I had,” Kamindu said on Tuesday. “I had to exit the team after that, but I don’t see that as a mistake. You have to take various decisions to balance a team, and I came into that side only because Dhananjaya had Covid. When he returned, I had to make way. That’s fair.”

During his two-year absence, he remained part of the set-up as a squad player and said he had benefited hugely from that experience. “Even though I didn’t get to play, I was in the squad and travelling with the team, pretty much every tour,” he said. “Going on so many tours with experienced players on those tours also helped me play well in my first few innings.”

Kamindu edged Chris Woakes behind for 12 in the first innings in Manchester, but made 113 in the second and enjoyed partnerships of 78 and 117 with Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal respectively. “In the first innings, I wasn’t able to score runs. The conditions were challenging,” he said. “It was colder than we expected. We did as well as we could as a team.

“I had a lot of support from the others when I went to bat, both Angie aiya and Chandi aiya. I have to mention Chandi aiya in particular, because him playing through that finger injury and putting up runs was vital for the team. He was a big support to me too, to get to 100, and their experience really helped me. They shared what they knew with me in the middle.”

He revealed that he has a simple philosophy underpinning his batting – “I do basic things, and try to keep calm in the middle” – and brushed off questions about his average. “What I wanted was to do what I could on the day for the team. That’s really my only goal: to give as much to my team as possible, whether on the batting front, bowling front, or via fielding.”

Kamindu had never been to England before this tour, and said that he will fulfil a dream this week: “From when I was little, I had a dream to play a Test at Lord’s,” he said. “It’s not just my dream, I think every player has that target. I’ve been able to get there. If we can win this match, it’ll be even more valuable to us.”