17 July 2024 11:11 am Views - 4075
Kusal Mendis was viewed as the best batsman of Sri Lanka for a longer period. Many ex-cricketers were also of the opinion that Mendis is a generational talent. However, his performance in the recent past in particular has not been anywhere near the expectations.
In the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL) he has failed to impress with the bat and in fact he became even more unpopular as a video clip of him having a go at young Dunith Wellalage on the field. In the video, Wellalage seems to be rushing through his over, but Mendis who wasn't prepared to face the delivery stops Wellalage on his tracks and says in Sinahalese "told you once, won't tell you again." Wellalage later gets the wicket of Kusal Mendis to the delight of many fans who had been angered by Mendis' antics.
At present one of the major issues with most of the national players has been their discipline. Mendis obviously has had his issues off the field, but he has not been able to carry himself nicely on the field as well. He was involved in an heated argument with Chamika Karunaratne in a previous LPL edition. Wanindu Hasaranga is another example as he came under serious criticism from his own Sri Lankan fans for being high-headed on the field and his extravagant celebrations have also not gone down too well with fans. He eventually lost his captaincy in the T20s.
Dhananjaya de Silva is another player who called one of the fans a fool while playing online games.
The biggest difference between this generation and the golden generation of Sri Lanka where they had players like Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardane, Muttiah Muralitharan is that these young players lack humbleness.
Someone like Kumar Sangakkara had zero haters for most part of their careers. Muralitharan likewise carried himself like a proper gentleman on the field. The fans always loved them in win and defeat - most notably when they lost the fifty over Cricket World Cup in 2007 they were still given a red carpet to welcome back home. Lasith Malinga who perhaps had his issues with media still maintained an amazing character on the field. However, the present cricketers seem to think that they are the best at what they do? But in reality they are millions miles away from it as clearly shown in the recent World Cup tournaments.
Kusal Mendis needs a break from cricket and probably should go back to club cricket and prove his quality again. If he is to be remained in the team, it would probably send out the wrong message to the entire domestic cricket circuit. There have been players like Dinesh Chandinal, Kusal Janith Perera and Avishka Fernando who have been among the runs in LPL. It would be unfair to overlook their performance.