I Would Have Loved the Opportunity to Play Against World's Number 1 Ranked Team - Kusal Mendis

Young Sri Lankan opener Kushal Mendis admits he is disappointed to miss out on the Sri Lanka tours to India.

Notably, Mendis was dropped from the Test squad after a series of failures against Pakistan in the UAE. However, he has forced his way back into the ODI and Test squad for the upcoming tour to Bangladesh.

“I would have loved the opportunity to play against world’s number one ranked team. I loved the challenge against the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja during the home series. Was disappointed to miss out, but then again, I have got only myself to blame. Had I scored some runs in the Pakistan series, I would have been selected for the Indian tour,” Mendis said to Cricbuzz.

At the age of 22, Mendis has already scored three Test hundreds, including one against India at the SSC in August last year. He is elated to make his way back into the squad.

“V<!---->e<!---->r<!---->y<!----> <!---->p<!---->l<!---->e<!---->a<!---->s<!---->e<!---->d<!----> <!---->t<!---->o<!----> <!---->m<!---->a<!---->k<!---->e<!----> <!---->a<!----> <!---->c<!---->o<!---->m<!---->e<!---->b<!---->a<!---->c<!---->k<!----> <!---->t<!---->o<!----> <!---->t<!---->h<!---->e<!----> <!---->s<!---->i<!---->d<!---->e. In domestic cricket, the first game I played, I was able to score 174 runs. I am looking forward for the tour as I made some runs against Bangladesh when they were in Sri Lanka last year,” Mendis stated.

Sri Lanka trained for two weeks under their new coach Chandika Hathurusingha before leaving for Bangladesh for the tri-series including Zimbabwe as well.

“What our new coach told me was to stick to my game and not to be afraid to play my shots. The best advice I have got was to play my shots and not to curb them,” Mendis elaborated.

Mendis further stated he was advised to stick to his natural game and no one forced him to change his style. Mendis has got a lot of support from former players and opponents which has come as a surprise.

“The support has been tremendous. I started playing at a very young age, and I find that both former greats and opponents have been extremely nice to me. It feels good. But you need to back yourself up with runs. It is really pleasing when people speak so high of me, and I guess they are trying to give me confidence. The selectors and the team management to have backed me a lot,” Mendis concluded.

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