Duleep a happy man on 61st Birthday today

By A.C. De Silva

FLASHBACK: How many batsmen in present day cricket have the guts even to think of a six to get to century? There may be a few. But how many of them would have the nerve to try and lift a drive again in the same Test and that too on the threshold of a second century? Former St. Sebastian's and Thomian cricketer Duleep Mendis would and he did it!

Mendis did not succeed the second time round, getting a boundary, but the spirit of the man is all too rare in the Grinding Test cricket scene.

During his playing days, the heart ruled the bat. So, he was not less entertaining whenever he batted.

The pressures were on him whenever he went out to bat, especially on tours. Today, he should be a very satisfied man as he celebrates his 61st birthday!

Around 30 years ago somewhere around the 17th September - the opening day of the inaugural Test between India and Sri Lanka, Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar lost the toss for the 9th consecutive time and Mendis scored 105 in the day.

He did something that was cherished by all Lankans when he scored 105 in the second innings to become the only batsman to hit identical hundreds in the same Test. Mendis was awarded the Man of the Match award in the Test for runs he scored.

When Mendis bats, the heart rules the bat that he is playing with. The pressures were on him. On that occasion he said that he was pleased with his performance.

He was unaware about the world record for a few more years until it was brought to his notice, Mendis said while coaching the Oman cricket team.

Everyone knows that Duleep Mendis hails from Moratuwa. On the field, Duleep Mendis was a very energetic captain when his playing days were over at S. Thomas', having come there from St. Sebastian's College, Moratuwa.

After his school days, he continued his success with the bat and captaining Mendis forged the Sri Lanka team, he achieved success.

He created a record by establishing the first ten victories against India.

Then, he created another 'First' as the manager of the first-ever Sri Lanka team who, won the world cup in 1996, at Lahore, Pakistan.

It clearly showed his management skills. Dave Whatmore and Mendis were the men behind the scene in achieving the greatest sports achievement that Sri Lanka recorded upto that date.

There are many other 'Firsts" for Duleep. He was the first Sri Lankan cricketer to score "Twin Centuries" 105 plus 105 against India in Chepak (Madras) in 1982 in that memorable First Test.

Mendis played for Sri Lanka for 18 years and he had the good fortune of performing his heroics at Lord's scoring 111 in the first innings and 94 in the second innings.

His interests on cricket did not fade on his retirement. He believed in promoting cricket. He coached the Sri Lanka team and then became a administrator.

Visvanath matches Mendis

Duleep Mendis can be compared to India's Visvanath. The strokes of both players are similar and both have proven ability to improve on the off side and the same relaxed but vigilant stance at slip when fielding.

Of course, Mendis packs a greater punch particularly in on-side play, plus he had the advantage of a crisp and sure touch on the lofted drives that he is never afraid to employ against spinners.

The command he established over the Indian bowling is well recorded in the running notes on his first innings which read, in its early part, as: steered Madam Lal third man, square cut him on the rise, square drove him, lay back to cut Kapil Dev to third man, took ball earlier to cut him front of point, bent into a back cut off Madam. Needless to say all strokes were headed for the boundary.

He went on in much the same way peppering the offside fence with fours until Doshi caught him in front. The confidence of Duleep Mendis stretched into the second innings when again he did not give one clear chance to the Indian bowlers.

His broad bat must have looked broader to the bowlers in what was a thorough execution of authoritative strokes, and thanks to that, Sri Lanka was able to put up a better showing in the Test that in the one-day internationals - a deed that must have given tremendous satisfaction to the island nation so very conscious of the need to make an impression in Test cricket.