Sri Lanka’s young sensational all-rounder, Kamindu Mendis, had a fabulous time in the previous year across formats to win the ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer Of The Year 2024 award. He finished with 1451 runs across formats at an average of over 50 as he rubbed shoulders with some of the greats of the game in 2024.
Kamindu Mendis made a solitary Test appearance for Sri Lanka before 2024 as he has already cemented his position as an all-format resource for Sri Lanka, but has also become a go-to-player of the event when the stakes are high. At home, he has clubbed 370 Test runs in four innings at an average of 123.33 with a strike rate of 65, thanks to two centuries and one half-century at the best score of unbeaten 182 runs against New Zealand.
The southpaw was one of the most glorious batters in England during the three-match Test series with the help of 267 runs in five innings at an average of 53.40 and a strike rate of 63, thanks to two half-centuries and one century at the best score of 113.
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The rise started in Bangladesh a couple of years ago before he showed his brilliance with 367 runs in four innings in Bangladesh at an average of 122.33 and a strike rate of 67, shouldering on two centuries and one half-century at the best score of 164.
Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis earns ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer Of The Year 2024
Kamindu Mendis was the reason behind Sri Lanka’s push for a maiden ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 spot, as the 26-year-old delivered a streak of great scores in the red-ball format. He finished the year with 1049 runs in nine Tests in 2024 at an average of nearly 75 and earned a place in the ICC Men’s Test Team of the year.
Sri Lanka’s middle order batter was one of the six batters who scored over 1000 Test runs in the recently concluded year, averaging the highest among them. While on his hot streak, the youngster became the joint-third quickest to score 1000 runs in the longest format of the game the Men’s games, equaling the legendary Sir Donald Bradman’s 13-innings mark to reach the milestone.
The contribution of Sri Lanka’s batter helped Sri Lanka earn crucial victories against New Zealand, Bangladesh, and England, delivering both home and away. However, the Galle-born hasn’t enjoyed the same success in the ODI format, with just 344 runs in 16 ODI innings at an average of 31.27 and a strike rate of 74.13, with two half-centuries.
The biggest struggle for him has come in the shortest format. The left-handed batter has drilled 381 runs in 21 innings at an average of below 20 and a strike rate of 122.50, thanks to two half-centuries at the best score of unbeaten 65 runs. He has earned a deal in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the 2025 season in the Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise (SRH).
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“I am really happy to be the emerging cricketer of the year (2024). It means a lot to me. I would like to thank my family, teammates, and coaches. The innings that I am proud of last year was my century against England because you can’t score a hundred there easily. So, there was so much hard work.” Kamindu Mendis addressed this during an interview with the ICC.
“I put a lot of hard work in the nets and practice sessions in the last couple of years. As a team, we have got some great results and big wins last year.” The youngster of Sri Lanka interacted.