Kusal Mendis says he would have loved to play against India

The youngster had missed out the tour because of poor form.

Kusal Mendis | GETTY

Sri Lankan cricketer Kusal Mendis was dropped from their recent tour to India. The youngster had a poor outing against Pakistan in October in UAE and that resulted in his axing from the side. But the 22-year-old has managed to get himself back in the Sri Lankan ODI and Test squads for the upcoming series in Bangladesh.

"I would have loved the opportunity to play against world's number one ranked team. I loved the challenge against the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja during the home series. Was disappointed to miss out, but then again, I have got only myself to blame. Had I scored some runs in the Pakistan series, I would have been selected for the Indian tour," Mendis told in an interview with Cricbuzz.

"Very pleased to make a comeback to the side. In domestic cricket, the first game I played, I was able to score 174 runs. I am looking forward for the tour as I made some runs against Bangladesh when they were in Sri Lanka last year," Mendis added.

Mendis has got batting tips from the new Lankan coach Chandika Hathurusingha, as the team is training under him from last two weeks before leaving to Dhaka on Saturday morning.

"What our new coach told me was to stick to my game and not to be afraid to play my shots. The best advice I have got was to play my shots and not to curb them," Mendis explained.

"The good thing is that no one forced me to change my style. All what I was told was to stick my game. The decisions I took while batting perhaps were wrong as the shot selection wasn't too clever. Those are things that I need to look into I need to read the match situations and react accordingly," Mendis elaborated.

Mendis has got back up from fans, his teammates, and even the opponents. He said people speak so high of him and they try to give him confidence. The 22-year-old Mendis admitted that the team management has been very supportive for him.

"The support has been tremendous. I started playing at a very young age and I find that both former greats and opponents have been extremely nice to me. It feels good. But you need to back yourself up with runs. It is really pleasing when people speak so high of me and I guess they are trying to give me confidence. The selectors and the team management too have backed me a lot," Mendis said. 

 
 

By Sihyeu Singh - 14 Jan, 2018

    Share Via