Sri Lanka’s batting sensation Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis won the ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year award, when the International Cricket Council announced its annual accolades for 2024 recently.
“The flamboyant left-handed batter had made just a solitary Test appearance for Sri Lanka prior to 2024, but ended the year having not only cemented his place as an all-format resource but also becoming their ‘go-to’ player in moments of crises and when the stakes were high,” the ICC says, adding: “This was on show during Sri Lanka’s push for a maiden ICC World Test Championship final spot as the 26 year old delivered a streak of big scores in whites.”
Mendis scored 1,451 runs in international cricket with an average of slightly over 50 last year, having played only his second Test for Sri Lanka in 2024 – he is now a fixture in our Test side in addition to being in both white ball squads.
In the red ball format, Mendis amassed 1,049 runs (including five centuries and three 50s) in nine Tests with an enviable average of nearly 75 – the highest among six batters who scored over 1,000 runs in Test cricket during the year.
The star all-rounder’s most memorable innings was against New Zealand at the Galle International Cricket Stadium, where his unbeaten 182 helped Sri Lanka post a massive total of 602, which laid the foundation for a clean sweep of the two Test series in September. However, Mendis has cited his scintillating century at Old Trafford in England, in August, as the innings that he is thus far most proud of.