Mendis fortunate to be in mature hands

Far from rushing him along or trying to change him or claiming all the glory, his coach at Army club was wise to leave him to his own devices, contenting himself with filming his action and showing him the footage whenever things went wrong. The best coaches are not dictators but mirrors. As the months passed, Mendis added other balls to his off-break and leg-break. Nowadays he has numerous deliveries in his repertoire, all of them under control.

Apparently, he sends down most of them every over. Mendis’s next stroke of fortune was that the national team had fallen into thoughtful and mature hands. A lesser leader than Mahela Jayawardene, a lesser lieutenant than Kumar Sangakkara, might have insisted on including the youngster in the team to tour Australia last season.