With the re-emergence of a version of Kusal Mendis the country once knew many years ago, the fans will wonder in which position he will bat in the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup later this year.
With the absence of regular white ball openers Kusal Janith Perera, Niroshan Dickwella and Avishka Fernando, Sri Lanka is left with three options with Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilaka. What if Kusal is a permanent opener?
If one looks at the entire T20 career of Kusal, it is just 681 runs in 35 matches, striking at 121 at an average of just 20. However, when considering the times he has opened the batting, he has scored 447 in 13 matches, striking at 138 and averaging at 34!
This is very much different to all the times he didn’t open the batting, averaging just 11 and a strike rate of barely 99. In fact, all 6 half centuries came when he opened including his best score of 79 runs.
However if considering his SENA venue statistics (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia), especially against Australia where he played 9 matches, he has scored only 236 runs in 17 matches, striking at almost run a ball and averaging less than 14.
The match winning 69* against Australia was the only fifty he made in SENA and has a big boost in his statistics since this is the only innings he remained not out in his career.
Judging by the limited statistics available in international cricket, it may seem reasonable to place him as an opener but at the expense of pushing either Danushka or Pathum down the order or benched.
Will Sri Lanka get the maximum out of the new Kusal Mendis as an opener in T20 or will he be placed in the middle order which has been a weak point? The Asia Cup may not be the most ideal place for experimenting as the conditions are day and night when compared to Australia but there isn’t a lot of time either!
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