Sri Lanka Batting Star Crowned As ICC Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year; Here's Why

Kamindu Mendis, who produced consistent batting displays for Sri Lanka in the year gone by, has been named as the ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year. The 26-year-old Mendis   scored 1451 runs across formats for Sri Lanka at an average just above 50 in 2024.  

The flamboyant left-handed batter had played just one Test for Sri Lanka prior to 2024 but ended the year having not only cemented his place as an all-format resource for Sri Lanka but also becoming their go-to-player in moments of crises and when the stakes were high.

In Sri Lanka's push for a maiden ICC World Test Championship Final spot, Kamindu delivered a streak of big scores in the whites.

Kamindu Mendis In Review: 1049 Runs From Nine Tests, Averaging 74.92

Mendis, who bats in the middle-order, was one of the six batters who scored over 1000 Test runs in the recently concluded calendar year - averaging the highest among them.

Making the most of his starts, Mendis hit five centuries and three fifties in his staggering tally of runs, taking Sri Lanka home on multiple occasions. During this, he also became the joint-third quickest to score 1000 runs in Men’s Tests - equalling Sir Don Bradman's 13-innings mark to reach the milestone.

His exploits with the bat helped Sri Lanka attain crucial Test wins against New Zealand, Bangladesh and England, delivering in both home and away conditions.

In England, Mendis finished as Sri Lanka’s leading run-getter in a three-Test series, and played a crucial role in the visiting side’s first Test win in the country after a decade’s wait.

Memorable Performance Of Kamindu Mendis

Kamindu's most impressive outing came in the second Test against New Zealand in Galle, where he forged his career-best score in the longest format of the game. An unbeaten 182 in the first innings helped Sri Lanka post a mammoth total of 602/5, and laid the foundation for a 2-0 series sweep for Sri Lanka.

The attacking innings was constructed over 250 deliveries and was laced with 16 boundaries and four maximums, earning Mendis the Player of the Match award.