The evolution of Kamindu Mendis as a T20 finisher

Long before Kamindu Mendis became a household name for his record-shattering batting in Test cricket, he was simply "that ambidextrous bowler" from Galle. A product of Richmond College, he began honing the rare skill of bowling with both arms at the age of 13. By the time he captained Sri Lanka at the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, his ability to switch between right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox was already a viral sensation.

Since then, that facet has become a quaint curiosity in the face of his batting exploits. However, the journey from a teenage novelty to the ICC Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year has been anything but linear.

Despite a promising T20I debut against England in 2018, Kamindu found himself on the fringes for years, often sidelined as a casualty of Sri Lanka Cricket's frequent administrative and selection committee changes.

His first four T20Is brought scores of 24 off 14 and 41 off 29, against England and South Africa, but his "crime" was that those two scores - in his first two games - were followed by scores of 0 and 1. This meant he wouldn't appear in a T20I for another two and a half years - a staggering gap of 25 matches, even accounting for the global standstill of a pandemic.

When he finally resurfaced in late 2021, the pattern repeated. He played a solitary T20I, where he scored 10 off 16, followed by three ODIs in January 2022 against Zimbabwe - a series that Sri Lanka lost - with a top score of 57. He would not turn out in Sri Lankan colours for another 24 months, with only a gritty 61 in a Test victory against Australia sandwiched between - that Test too would be his last for 18 months.

Where others might have voiced frustration at being a casualty of revolving-door selection committees and the whims of coaching staff, Kamindu has remained characteristically grounded.

"I debuted in 2018, and it's been up and down since then," Kamindu reflected with a stoicism belying his age. "In the past year, I've become more consistent. It's not something that is unusual to me. Any batter, any athlete can have failures. We learn from our failures."

The most testing chapter of his career, though, arrived just months before the World Cup. A 39-ball 65 against Afghanistan and back-to-back Test hundreds in Bangladesh had belatedly bought him a prolonged run in the side through 2024 and 2025.

However, just months out of the World Cup, the powers that be - a combination of selectors and head coach Sanath Jayasuriya - opted for the "experience" of Kusal Perera over Kamindu, while the presence of Dhananjaya de Silva - who also bats and bowls spin - had seemingly made him redundant in the squad. That Kamindu was in the midst of a lean patch - a run of seven T20Is, which included five single-digit totals and a high score of 50 - served as the proverbial nail in the coffin.

The treatment was particularly galling: Kamindu was summoned to Pallekele for the final World Cup cuts, only to be sent back to Colombo on the eve of the first game of a home series against England. But when asked about this turn of events, Kamindu offered a prolonged, knowing smile - the only crack in his professional armour - before choosing his words carefully.

"I think my job is to play for the team and do what's needed for the team. My goal is to simply make the most of whatever opportunities I'm given. I can't control the things outside of that. If I'm in the team I will play for the team. If I'm out of the team, I will tirelessly work to get back into the team."

That tireless work has manifested in a terrifying new dimension to his game. Recalled for the World Cup after selectors abandoned the Dhananjaya experiment, in Sri Lanka's two opening matches against Ireland and Oman, he struck at a dizzying rate of over 230, even clearing the massive 80-meter Khettarama boundary with ease.

Kamindu's historical success against high-velocity bowling stemmed from his economy of movement. Unlike many modern batters who rely on elaborate trigger movements, he has a more static, balanced approach.

But to transition into a T20 finisher, Kamindu has augmented his classical foundation with high-risk, high-reward tactical adjustments, incorporating reverse sweeps to mirror his ambidexterity with the ball. His long levers and supple wrists, meanwhile, have allowed him to access the boundaries over cover and seen him embrace the leg-side heave for countering spin.

The data too is now starting to validate the eye test. Since his debut, Kamindu has hit a six every 17.4 deliveries, a frequency surpassed only by the likes of Charith Asalanka (17.1) and Dasun Shanaka (14.67). If you combine fours and sixes, he has found the ropes once every 6.2 balls, breathing down the necks of established openers like Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis.

The evolution has only sharpened in the post-2024 World Cup era. In that window, Kamindu has tightened his grip on the middle overs, hitting a six every 16.2 balls - a stat only bettered by Shanaka's freakish frequency of once every 9.75 deliveries. And among those with at least ten innings in this period, Kamindu's strike rate of 136.23 is only behind that of Nissanka's (139.69), Perera's (139.86) and Shanaka's (145.72).

As Sri Lanka eye a Super Eight spot, the message from Kamindu is clear. He has survived the system by focusing on the one thing he can control: the weight of runs from his bat. He is a player who has learned that in the end, if you put your head down and get to work, the talent becomes impossible to ignore.