Mendis aware opposition attacks learn fast

Even team-mates may not have known much about Kusal Mendis when he debuted for Sri Lanka in October 2015, so limited had his exposure been to senior cricket. Mendis had played in 10 first-class matches before playing a Test. He was 20 at the time. If West Indies (his first opponent) wanted footage of his batting for scouting purposes, they would have had to go digging.

Fourteen months on, things have changed. Mendis played arguably the best Test innings of the year, against Australia, in Pallekele. But opponents now know he tends to nick off outside off stump early in his innings. Importantly, Mendis also knows that they know.

“Well, as soon as we come to cricket bowlers don’t know your weak points,” he said. “They’ll watch videos of us, like we do of them. They’ll work out a batsman’s weaknesses – so they would have of mine as well. So we need to evolve and fix our mistakes. Otherwise it’s difficult. If we do the same thing you get out.

“I’ve definitely worked on the problem of being caught behind a lot with the coach at training. The main thing is to stop playing that shot in …

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