Thursday Jun 11, 2026
Thursday Jun 11, 2026
Friday, 29 May 2026 03:26 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Kamindu Mendis
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Sri Lanka’s newly appointed Vice Captain for all three formats Kamindu Mendis emphasised that he won’t let his new position in the national team affect his normal game.
Mendis was made Vice Captain to Kusal Mendis in the ODI and T20I teams, and to Dhananjaya de Silva in the Test team for the tour of West Indies, which begins with the three-match ODI series on 3 June at Sabina Park, Jamaica.
“I look at it as a good opportunity,” said Mendis. “Whether you are Vice Captain or a player, you have to give your 100% to the team. There is no difference between being a vice captain and a player, my belief is to give my best to the Captain, coaches, and the team. In the past year, I have played in all three formats. I don’t want the vice-captaincy to affect my performances. I want to play with a free mindset like I have done before.”
Mendis has previous experience captaining the Sri Lanka Under-19 team from 2016 to 2018, winning eight and losing 10 in 18 matches. He led Sri Lanka in the 2018 ICC Men’s Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand.
“If you take the team, we are mentally in a good space with the help of the coach and support staff. I think we can do well with this new coach and the new coaching staff. Not only on this tour, but also in the 2027 Cricket World Cup. We plan to go step by step towards achieving that target,” said Mendis. “I have some experience of playing on West Indian pitches and, with the experienced players we have in our team, we can give a good account of ourselves.”
Talking about new head coach Gary Kirsten, Mendis said: “I had only one coaching session with him as I was in India for the Indian Premier League (IPL). I think he is a good coach. We spoke a lot and I had one batting session for 1½ to 2 hours. That session went off well.”
“We all know that in the IPL, there are a lot of international players involved and you get a lot of exposure playing and practising with them. Not only me, there were another 4-5 of our players appearing in the IPL this year. It’s a good experience. This is my second year in the IPL, last year I also played for the same team (Sunrisers Hyderabad). I think the experience and exposure we get from playing in the IPL will be beneficial to us in the future.”
The 27-year-old left-hander, who can bowl with both hands, is one of the brightest stars to emerge and cement his place in the national team in the past four years. He sports a Test average of 62.66 in 14 Tests with 5 centuries and 5 fifties, and has appeared in 27 ODIs and 43 T20Is.
