Sri Lankan batter Kamindu Mendis has had a great start to Test cricket so far. He has made his place in the list of legendary batsmen like Sunil Gavaskar and Don Bradman by making a splash in the first few matches of his career. The entire Sri Lankan team flopped in the ongoing Lord’s Test against England, but this batsman stood firm at one end. Kamindu Mendis Mendis played a brilliant innings of 74 runs in the second Test, while the entire team collapsed for 196 runs in front of England’s huge score of 427 runs. On the basis of these 74 runs, Kamindu Mendis has achieved a special achievement in Test cricket.
Kamindu Mendis has become the 7th batsman in the world to score more than 600 runs in the first 5 Test matches of his career, he still has one innings left in the Lord’s Test. In the 8 innings played so far, he has scored 627 runs at an average of 89.57. Before Kamindu Mendis, this feat has been achieved by Sunil Gavaskar, George Headley, Harry Brook, Devon Conway, Conrad Hunt and Don Bradman. The record of scoring the most runs in the first 5 Tests belongs to none other than Sunil Gavaskar. He is the only batsman in the world who crossed the 800 run mark in his first 5 Tests, apart from him no one has been able to do such a feat till date.
Batters who scored the most runs in the first 5 matches of Test career
- Sunil Gavaskar (831)
- George Headley (714)
- Kamindu Mendis (627) One innings left*
- Harry Brook (623)
- Devon Conway (623)
- Conrad Hunt (622)
- Don Bradman (607)
Kamindu Mendis made his debut against Australia
Kamindu Mendis made his Test debut against Australia in 2022. He scored 61 runs in the first match. After this, in the second Test against Bangladesh, he scored centuries in both the innings, and scored an unbeaten 92 in the first innings of the third Test. Kamindu Mendis’ third Test century came in Manchester when he scored 113 runs against England.
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Test Record of Kamindu Mendis
- 61 vs Australia, Galle, 2022
- 102 and 164 vs Bangladesh, Sylhet, 2024
- 92* and 9 vs Bangladesh, Chittagong, 2024
- 12 and 113 vs England, Old Trafford, 2024
- 74 vs England, Lord’s (one innings left)*