Any discussion about the most powerful cricket nations in the world over the past few decades begins and ends with three — Australia, England and India.
They are the only three nations that face off in Test series spanning five Tests, including the Ashes for Australia and England and the Border Gavaskar series between Australia and India.
Cricket’s entire calendar largely revolves around the availability and the wishes of the “Big Three”, but for the game to be healthy, they need challengers.
While there have been fears about the gap between the powerhouse trio and the rest of the cricketing nations increasing, particularly following the retirement of stars from South Africa’s golden generation, a fallen giant appears to slowly be waking from its slumber.
Sri Lanka was in cricketing purgatory after the retirement of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena in the mid 2010s. (Getty Images: Matthew Lewis)
For the best part of three decades Sri Lanka went toe to toe with cricket’s giants. The tiny island off the coast of India is an afterthought in just about every sport in the world, but not this one.
Despite lacking the funding and resources of the traditional cricketing powerhouses, Sri Lanka has made a habit of punching above its weight class and has provided the game with some of its all-time greats.
It is home to cricket’s all-time leading wicket taker, Muttiah Muralitharan, and one of the game’s greatest Test batters, Kumar Sangakkara.
Since Sangakkara retired in August 2015, having amassed an eye-popping 12,400 Test runs, Sri Lanka has been in the cricketing wilderness.
Yes, there have been individual flashes of brilliance here and there, but the men’s team has largely disappointed.
Once a mainstay at the business end of World Cups, Sri Lanka has not advanced to the semifinal or beyond at a global tournament since winning the T20 World Cup in 2014.
After a dormant period spanning close to a decade, the winds of change appear to be blowing in Sri Lanka’s favour. And that is great news for cricket.
A new star putting up Bradmanesque numbers
Since the retirements of Sangakkara, Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardena and several other greats from their generation, Sri Lanka’s men’s team has largely been devoid of star power.
There have not been players that can win you the game in a single spell of bowling or with their own bat aside from Lasith Malinga in his prime years.
Angelo Mathews was anointed as Sri Lanka’s next great hope when he burst onto the scene in the late 2000s, and while he has enjoyed a solid career, constant fitness issues have kept him from being the generational star many thought he might one day become.
However, the void left by all-timers from previous generations appears to be getting filled by a new star, Kamindu Mendis.
Kamindu Mendis matched Don Bradman by reaching the 1,000-run mark in just his 13th Test innings. (AP Photo: Eranga Jayawardena)
Mendis first made headlines back in 2016 while playing with Sri Lanka’s under-19 team where he showed off his ability to bowl with both arms. He bowls off spin with his right arm and some orthodox with his left.
He appeared to be the next in a long line of unique cricketers the nation had produced, following in the footsteps of Malinga, Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis to name a few, and his bowling ability was the talk of the town, not his batting.
What an oversight that turned out to be.
Now 26, Mendis has become the rock Sri Lanka’s Test line-up is built around. Building a Test side around a player who has eight Tests under his belt seems like a foolish task until you unpack just what he has accomplished in those eight Tests.
Mendis has amassed 1,004 runs in just 13 innings since making his Test debut against Australia in 2022.
His 182 not out against New Zealand last week was his fifth century to go with four half-centuries. He currently has a video game-like Test batting average of 91.27.
To put those numbers in context, by reaching the 1,000-run mark in just his 13th innings, Mendis is currently operating at the same pace as the legendary Donald Bradman.
Only Herbert Sutcliffe and Everton Weekes achieved the feat in fewer innings (12).
Sri Lanka’s previous quickest batter to the 1,000-run mark was Roy Dias, who reached the milestone in 23 innings.
Last year, India’s own Test phenom Yashasvi Jaiswal became the quickest batter in the 21st century to reach the 1000-run mark, getting there in 16 innings. Mendis has smashed that mark.
Whenever a player, particularly from the subcontinent, puts up outlandish numbers, it’s often followed by this question from naysayers: ‘Well, who did he do it against?’ So far, it’s been against some high-class opponents.
Mendis made 61 on debut against an Australian attack featuring Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon in 2022.
Upon his return to the Test side earlier this year, he twice rescued Sri Lanka in Bangladesh with a pair of centuries in Sylhet — not the walk in the park it used to be in generations past.
He scored a century in Manchester in seaming conditions against England and was named the Player of the Series before repeating that feat against New Zealand with a pair of centuries in a series win at home.
Yes, it is a small sample size, but it is one hell of a start. Tougher tests lay ahead, namely a tour to South Africa later this year before Australia visits Sri Lanka next year.
Like Sangakkara before him, Mendis’s game is built on grittiness and hard work rather than being flashy without substance. If the early returns from his Test career are anything to go by, Mendis also shares Sangakkara’s insatiable appetite for run scoring.
It seems unfathomable now that Mendis spent two years in Test obscurity after making that half-century on debut against Australia. It is a testament to his character that in a situation where other precocious young talents may have pouted and dropped the bundle, Mendis simply went to work.
“I had got the chance to play for Sri Lanka after [Test captain] Dhananjaya de Silva tested positive for COVID. When he returned, I had to go out and it was a fair decision,” he said in England earlier this year.
“Certain decisions were taken to balance the team. I knew that the team’s batting was packed and my chance of getting into the side was less.
“Although I wasn’t playing, I was always a part of the squad and it was a good learning experience spending time with seniors and learning.”
The left-hander’s temperament was also on show when speaking after Sri Lanka wrapped up a 2-0 series win over the Black Caps this week.
Mendis was asked about de Silva’s decision to declare with him just 18 runs away from a maiden double century with his skipper seated beside him, and there was not a hint of selfishness in his answer.
“I always do the best I can for the team and I think we made that decision [to declare] at the right time because it allowed us to take two wickets in the evening session,” he told reporters.
“We all know in Galle, batting in the final hour of the day is extremely tough, so I think it’s because we made that decision [to declare] that we were able to get them all out quickly. I’m not worried about that at all.
“Me and my teammates are all here to do whatever we can to help the team.”
Legend’s return brings drought-breaking results
Sri Lanka’s run of form in 2024 has coincided with the instalment of former captain Sanath Jayasuriya as its head coach.
Jayasuriya took over on an interim basis in early July after the departure of his predecessor Chris Silverwood, and the legendary former opener has galvanised his charges in a short amount of time.
In August, Jayasuriya’s side beat India in a bilateral one-day series, its first such win over its powerful neighbours since 1997.
The win over England at the Oval last month was Sri Lanka’s first Test win in the country since 2014, and its series win against New Zealand is its first over the Black Caps in 15 years.
Sri Lanka’s 2-0 win over New Zealand was its first Test series win over the Black Caps since 2009. (AP Photo: Eranga Jayawardena)
Sri Lanka’s six Test wins in the calendar year are its most since 2006, and have seen Jayasuriya’s side shoot up to the third spot on the World Test Championship rankings. Since the WTC was introduced in 2019, Sri Lanka had won just seven Test matches between 2019 and 2023.
The impact of Sri Lanka’s sudden rise has already been felt by the cricket’s superpowers. India this week wrapped up a 2-0 series win against Bangladesh to retain its spot at the top of the rankings, and won the second Test despite three days being heavily rain-affected.
While they might have previously settled for a draw and a series win, the prospect of potentially losing a WTC final spot to the resurgent Sri Lanka meant India chased a win in the second Test by going at more than eight runs an over in its first innings — which began on day four — before securing a wildly entertaining seven-wicket win on day five.
The more other countries emerge as forces in the red-ball format, the better the matches will be for fans all over the world, even if they are not marquee series such as The Ashes.
Jayasuriya’s emergence as a brutal opener at the top of the innings was the catalyst for Sri Lanka’s unlikely World Cup triumph in 1996. After he retired in 2011, Jayasuriya had two separate stints as a selector, but oversaw modest returns from his side in both tenures.
He appears to have found his calling in coaching a crop of youngsters who would have almost certainly idolised him growing up.
Sanath Jayasuriya has galvanised Sri Lanka’s team since taking over as head coach in July. (Getty Images: Steven Paston)
Following the series win over New Zealand, Jayasuriya is expected to receive a one-year extension to his coaching contract, and the players will not be complaining.
“Sanath Jayasuriya was superb as cricket director and now as coach,” Mathews said after the New Zealand series.
“He communicates well and has given us a lot of freedom. We are all working towards one goal, and now everyone is on the same page. He’s also done a superb job grooming the players. He has been amazing. I wish him all the very best.”
Jayasuriya’s batting had a madness to it during his stellar career, but his time as a coach has so far been steady, and his young team has benefited from the stability that often seems nowhere to be found in Sri Lankan cricket.
The handling of Mendis’s ascent has been a welcome example of the sensible nature of the Jayasuriya regime.
Mendis had never batted above the number-six spot before the New Zealand series, making two centuries from the number-seven spot and one at number eight, but his success in England immediately prompted calls for him to be moved up the order.
Jayasuriya also had the headache of an underperforming Kusal Mendis batting at number three, and in years past, Sri Lanka might have simply swapped the two Mendii around.
Sri Lanka’s Test side has an excellent blend of experienced players such as Angelo Mathews (left) and youngsters like Pathum Nissanka (right). (Getty Images: Gareth Copley)
Instead, Jayasuriya opted to send veteran Dinesh Chandimal up to number three, moving Kamindu up to five and Kusal slotting in at number seven, and the results were sensational against the Black Caps as all three men enjoyed strong series.
That Chandimal, 82 Tests into a 13-year career, was willing to leave his favoured number-five spot where he has excelled, to move up the order to aid Kamindu’s progress shows the level of buy-in Jayasuriya has across his entire squad.
It is essential for any good team to have a decent blend of youth and experience, and Sri Lanka now has this.
Young talents such as Kamindu and opener Pathum Nissanka, who scored a brilliant century at The Oval in the win over England, are flanked by the experienced trio of Mathews, Chandimal and former Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne.
Then you have got middle-aged players such as Kusal and Dhananjaya, who have accrued almost a decade’s worth of Test experience themselves.
Jayasuriya has also inherited a strong bowling attack, one that showed in England that it is capable of taking 20 wickets outside the spin-friendly conditions of Sri Lanka.
Asitha Fernando is the leader of the pace attack, and was flanked excellently in England by the talented but oft-injured Lahiru Kumara.
That Sri Lanka won a Test in England playing four pacemen is a sign of its evolution in the long format.
When the Sri Lankans play at home, Prabath Jayasuriya has proven himself to be an absolute monster in spinning conditions, ripping out 97 wickets in 16 Tests. He is as close to a new era Rangana Herath as you are likely to find in world cricket.
If Sri Lanka can keep the likes of Asitha and Kumara consistently on the park, they can begin to think about claiming more big Test scalps away from home.
Women’s stars spark men’s turnaround
Jayasuriya’s appointment as the men’s coach came a few weeks prior to the women’s Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.
India has dominated the women’s Asia Cup since its inception in 2004, winning seven of eight editions heading into this year’s tournament.
India looked well on its way to another win this year as well until something magical happened at the back end of the tournament.
Sri Lanka, the host nation, advanced to the final after beating Pakistan in a thriller, and then did the unthinkable by knocking off India in the final.
Sri Lanka’s women’s team has long been a one-woman show, with skipper Chamari Athapaththu dominating attacks all over the world, albeit often in losing efforts since making her debut 15 years ago.
Chasing 166 in the final, Athapaththu fell for 61 with the score on 94 and Sri Lanka’s hopes seemed to go with their skipper.
Up stepped Harshitha Samarawickrama (69 off 51) and youngster Kavisha Dilhari, who smacked 30 off 16 deliveries to lead her side home with eight balls to spare.
Sri Lanka’s women’s team is riding a high heading into the T20 World Cup after winning the Asia Cup earlier in the year. (Getty Images: Sameera Peiris)
The win came amid raucous yet beautiful scenes, with thousands packed into the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium, crowds their male counterparts often struggle to attract.
Sri Lanka’s landmark result has it as one of the teams to watch ahead of the upcoming women’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates this month.
It is no surprise that Sri Lanka’s men’s team went on a run after seeing their women’s stars galvanise a nation together.
Now that Sri Lanka’s men have gotten their act together, do not be surprised if the women go on another fairytale run in the World Cup.
A proud cricketing nation that was dormant for far too long appears to be rising out of purgatory once again.
While that is a threat to the game’s dominant countries, the competition is something that will only boost the sport.
