When Mendis held sway

By Hafiz Marikar

One cannot easily forget the yeoman service provided by Duleep Mendis as a player, captain, manager and CEO. At the beginning he  was the most successful captain winning two tests against India and Pakistan at home, after taking over the leadership from Bandula Warnapura for the twin tour of Australian and New Zeeland in 1983.

Duleep led Sri Lanka in 19 tests and emerged as the most successful Sri Lankan skipper at the time. As captain of Sri Lanka he brought honour to the country during the first 25 tests. During the memorable test at Lord’s he narrowly missed an opportunity to hit twin hundreds at Lords when he scored 111 and 94 runs.

Duleep Mendis led Sri Lanka to her first ever Test Win, when we beat India at the P. Sara Stadium (Oval) in 1985 in a memorable series. And in the test at Asgiriya he along with his deputy Roy Dias, saved Sri Lanka from a humiliating defeat and brought them towards what would have been a famous victory.

Educated at St. Sebastian’s College Moratuwa and S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia Duleep was a man with technique. This brilliant stroke maker in the right conditions could not be stopped easily. He found these conditions at Madras in 1982, Lords in 1984 and against India at home in 1985. At Madras he followed Bradman and Weeks in smashing hundreds in each innings against India .

Duleep’s first class career records – Matches 98, Runs 5242, Hundreds 10, Fifties 33, Highest 194 for Sri Lanka Board Presidents XI against Tamil Nadu in the Gopalan Trophy in Madras in 1977. Test Career Record: Test 23, Runs 1252, Hundreds 4 fifties 7 highest 124 vs India in 1985. One day Internationals: 71 matches, Runs 1365.