Duleep Mendis

Deshamanya
Duleep Mendis
Personal information
Full name	Louis Rohan Duleep Mendis
Born	25 August 1952 (age 71); Moratuwa, Dominion of Ceylon
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm medium
International information
National side	Sri Lanka (1975–1989);
Test debut(cap 8)	17 February 1982 v England
Last Test	25 August 1988 v England
ODI debut(cap 5)	7 June 1975 v West Indies
Last ODI	24 March 1989 v Pakistan
Career statistics
	Source: ESPNcricinfo, 24 December 2014

Last updated June 11, 2024

Deshamanya Louis Rohan Duleep Mendis (born 25 August 1952), known as Duleep Mendis, is a Sri Lankan former cricketer and former captain of the team. Mendis captained Sri Lanka to their first Test series victory in 1985. He was primarily a specialist batsman, whose best performances came from 1982 to 1985.

Early years

He spent his college life at St. Sebastian's College, Moratuwa and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. Mendis also captained the Under 20 1st XI sides of both colleges.

International career

Mendis made his debut for Sri Lanka in 1972, batting at number three against the visiting Tamil Nadu side. Mendis top-scored in the first innings with 52, and also made 34 in the second innings, but could not prevent an innings defeat. This match did not have international status, and indeed Mendis represented Sri Lanka in a number of non-internationals. His first ODI, however, came during the first Cricket World Cup in 1975, when he made 8 against the West Indies in a batting collapse. He was hit in the head by Jeff Thomson in a match versus Australia, and when able to speak again, told the Australians "I am going now", retiring hurt on 32.^[2] It took seven more years before Mendis got to play a Test match; on 17 February 1982 he joined forces with the other Sri Lankans against England. In that match, he was sent in to bat at number four, but only made 17 and 27 in Sri Lanka's seven-wicket defeat. More defeats followed, and in his first eight innings he only recorded one fifty, in the first Test of three against Pakistan.

However, on tour of India in the northern autumn of 1982 he showed his real skill. Sri Lanka had lost two early wickets for 11 runs, and Mendis was sent in to bat with Roy Dias. Their partnership was worth 153 runs, then a third-wicket record for Sri Lanka, and Mendis' maiden century helped Sri Lanka bat out the first day. Then, India amassed 566 for 6 before declaring, leaving Sri Lanka to try to save the draw. Again, the openers fell for single-digit scores, and again Mendis made 105 – which helped Sri Lanka bat until tea on the fifth day.^[3] Sri Lanka eventually drew the Test, their first drawn Test series in their history.

In the 1983 Cricket World Cup, Mendis recorded his third One Day International fifty (the previous two came in the 1979 World Cup and on tour to Pakistan in 1982). However, despite a respectable batting average of 25.33, Mendis' fortunes were the reverse of the Sri Lankan side. Sri Lanka lost the games in which he made reasonable scores, while Mendis made a duck in Sri Lanka's only win.

Mendis recorded a string of poor scores on New Zealand's tour of the island in 1984, only passing 20 once in six Test innings. By this time, however, he was established as the captain of the side, and still picked for the Test match in England that English summer. Mendis made his third Test century as Sri Lanka smashed 491 for 7 batting first amid the rain, and the first Test century by a Sri Lankan captain while in office. Sri Lanka drew that Test. A poor World Series Cup in 1984–85 followed, where Sri Lanka only won one out of ten ODIs, and Mendis was out in single figures four times.

Then came the 1985 Indian tour. Mendis led from the front, scoring three fifties and one series-saving century in the third Test, as India were defeated 1–0 in three Tests. After that tour, which also included a drawn ODI series, Mendis' career declined, and by the end of his career it was probably only his captaincy that kept him in. He made two Test fifties in his last ten Tests, and two ODI fifties in his last 32 ODIs following the India tour. Ranjan Madugalle replaced him as captain for the last Test that Mendis played, where he bowed out with a rearguard 56 that was, however, not to be good enough to save a draw. He remained within the Sri Lankan cricketing sphere, however, as he was manager of the successful 1996 Cricket World Cup side.

Later on he went on to coach the Oman cricket team and helped them qualify for their first 2016 World T20 in 2015.

Related Research Articles

Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman is a former Indian international cricketer and a former cricket commentator and pundit. A right-hand batsman known for his elegant stroke play, Laxman played as a middle-order batsman in Test cricket. Laxman is currently the Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), and the head coach of the India Under-19 and India A teams. Laxman was a member of the Indian team that was one of the joint-winners of the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, which the title was also shared with Sri Lanka.

Yuvraj Singh is a former Indian international cricketer who played in all formats of the game. He is an all-rounder who batted left-handed in the middle order and bowled slow left-arm orthodox. He has won 7 Player of the Series awards in ODI cricket, which is joint 3rd highest by an Indian, shared with former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly. He is also the son of former Indian fast bowler and Punjabi actor Yograj Singh.

Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer who represented Sri Lanka in 134 Test matches from 2000 to 2015, including fifteen as captain. In first-class cricket, he played for Nondescripts Cricket Club from 1997–98 to 2013–14 and for Surrey County Cricket Club from 2015 to 2017. He also played for numerous franchise teams. He was born in Matale, Central Province. He was a part of the Sri Lankan squads which won the 2001-02 Asian Test Championship, 2002 ICC Champions Trophy and the 2014 T20 World Cup.

Tillakaratne Mudiyanselage Dilshan, commonly known as TM Dilshan is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He is often regarded as the best rated Sri Lankan player in run-chases in ODI history and one of the most innovative players of all time. He is the top run scorer in 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup with 500 runs, and scored century against England in semi final of ICC 2011 world cup. Dilshan is considered to be a rare example of a cricketer with notable skills in all aspects of the game, who can bat, bowl, field and keep wicket. He is an aggressive right-hand batsman who invented the scoop, which has come to be known as the Dilscoop, a shot that hits the ball over the keeper. Apart from being an opening batsman, he is also a capable off-break bowler. Energetic in the field, he usually fielded at the point region. He was part of the Sri Lankan team that won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20.

Roy Luke Dias is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played Test matches and One Day Internationals for the national side.

Bharath Reddy is a former Indian international cricketer.

Sidath Wettimuny is a Sri Lankan former cricketer, who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals as an opening batsman from 1982 to 1987. Wettimuny was a typical 1980s opening batsman in that he often played very defensively, grafting for his runs, and his ODI strike rate of 48 shows this quite clearly.

Angelo Davis Mathews is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer and a former captain of the national cricket team in all formats. Mathews currently plays all formats for Sri Lanka., Mathews was a key member of the team that won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 and was part of the team that made the finals of 2011 Cricket World Cup, 2009 ICC World Twenty20 and 2012 ICC World Twenty20. Mathews and Lasith Malinga hold the record for the highest ninth wicket partnership in ODI cricket.

Shikhar Dhawan is an Indian cricketer. A left-handed opening batsman, he captains Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League and plays for Delhi in first-class cricket. At the 2013 Champions Trophy and 2017 Champions Trophy, Dhawan was the leading run-scorer and was awarded the 'Golden Bat' in both the tournaments. He was the leading run scorer for India at the 2015 Cricket World Cup. He also became the first player in the history of IPL to score two back-to-back centuries. He was awarded the 'Player of the Tournament' for his exploits in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, which he won with his national side. In the 2018 Asia Cup which Dhawan won with his national side, he was named Player Of The Tournament as he was the top scorer of the tournament with the bat.

The England cricket team toured Sri Lanka in February 1982. The tour included two One Day International (ODI) matches and one Test match. Sri Lanka had become a Test playing nation the year before, and this was their inaugural Test match. Many celebrations had been prepared in Sri Lanka, include the issuing of commemorative stamps and coins.

Balapuwaduge Ajantha Winslow Mendis better known as Ajantha Mendis is a Sri Lankan former international cricketer who played for Sri Lankan national cricket team in all three formats. He is also known as the "mystery spinner" due to the unusual bowling action variations. In August 2019, he retired from all forms of cricket. Mendis was a member of the Sri Lankan team that won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20.

Lokuge Dinesh Chandimal is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer and a former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. A handy right-handed middle order batter who sometimes plays as the wicket-keeper, Chandimal lead Sri Lanka in the group stages of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 in which Sri Lanka ended up as the champions.

Narangoda Liyanaarachchige Thisara Chirantha Perera, popularly as Thisara Perera, is a former Sri Lankan international cricketer who played all formats for the national team. He also captained the team in limited-overs formats. Domestically he plays for Sri Lanka Army Sports Club in the Premier Trophy and Premier Limited-Overs Tournament, and the Jaffna Stallions in the Lanka Premier League. Perera has played franchise T20 cricket all around the world for numerous leagues. Primarily a bowling all-rounder, he is an aggressive left-handed batsman who can hit big sixes in death overs and is a useful right-arm medium-fast bowler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinesh Karthik</span> Indian cricketer

Krishnakumar Dinesh Karthik is an Indian commentator and former professional cricketer who played for the India national cricket team. He was also the captain of the Tamil Nadu cricket team in domestic cricket. He made his debut for the Indian cricket team in 2004. He was the 4th Indian batsman to play 300 T20 matches. Karthik was a member of the team that won both the inaugural 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.

Frank Dimuth Madushanka Karunaratne, popularly known as Dimuth Karunaratne, is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer and former captain of the Sri Lanka Test and ODI teams. Considered as one of the best Test openers in the world, he has been included 3 times in the ICC Test Cricket Team of the Year. He is the opening batter for Sri Lanka in Test cricket and ODIs. He plays first-class cricket for the Sinhalese Sports Club.

Mathurage Don Kusal Janith Perera, aka Kusal Perera is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer currently plays limited overs cricket and a former ODI cricket captain. He was a key member of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 winning team.

In the 1982–83 cricket season, the Sri Lankan national cricket team toured to India to play the Indian national cricket team. The tour included one Test match. That match was drawn. Three players scored centuries; Duleep Mendis scored 105 in both Sri Lankan innings, and Sunil Gavaskar and Sandeep Patil scored 155 and 144 respectively, both in India's first innings. Three players took a five-wicket haul in the game; Dilip Doshi took five wickets for 85 runs in Sri Lanka's first innings, Kapil Dev took five wickets for 110 runs and Ashantha de Mel took five wickets for 68 runs.

Balapuwaduge Kusal Gimhan Mendis, popularly known as Kusal Mendis is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who plays as a top-order batter in all forms of the game and current captain of national ODI team. He only played sixteen first-class matches before playing for the national side. In November 2017, he was named the One Day International (ODI) batsman of the year for the 2016–17 season at Sri Lanka Cricket's annual awards.

Dhananjaya Maduranga de Silva, or commonly Dhananjaya de Silva is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who plays for Sri Lanka in all formats of the game and for Tamil Union in domestic cricket and current captain of the national team in Test. In November 2017, he was named the Test batsman of the year for the 2016–17 season at Sri Lanka Cricket's annual awards.

The Pakistan cricket team toured Sri Lanka in July 2022 to play two Test matches against the Sri Lankan cricket team. The Test series formed part of the 2021–2023 ICC World Test Championship. In April 2022, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed that the series would be taking place. Originally, the tour was also going to include three One Day International (ODI) matches, but these were cancelled in May 2022, as they were not part of the 2020–2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League. The fixtures for the tour were confirmed in June 2022. Pakistan last toured Sri Lanka for a Test series in June and July 2015. On 17 July 2022, Sri Lanka Cricket moved the second Test from the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo to the Galle International Stadium due to the economic crisis in the country.

References

↑ "Oman in Asian Cricket Council". asiancricket. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
↑ "'Do you want to press charges against a Mr Jeff Thomson?'". ESPNcricinfo.com. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
↑ "Only Test: India v Sri Lanka at Chennai, Sep 17-22, 1982 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2017.

External links

Duleep Mendis at ESPNcricinfo

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[om-1] "Oman in Asian Cricket Council". asiancricket. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.

[2] "'Do you want to press charges against a Mr Jeff Thomson?'". ESPNcricinfo.com. Retrieved 3 June 2022.

[3] "Only Test: India v Sri Lanka at Chennai, Sep 17-22, 1982 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2017.

[1]

[2]

[3]