IND v SL: Mahela Jayawardene questions selectors decision to drop Kusal Mendis from Test squad

Legendary Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene is not happy with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) selectors who dropped Kusal Mendis from the Test squad for the tour of India. Mendis is a talented Lankan batsman who recently played in Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates. It is understood that owing to his underperformance in the UAE selectors dropped him from the Test squad before the tour of India.

In a tweet, Jayawardene expressed his anger over the selection committee. “Don’t understand how @KusalMendis1 is not in the test squad? Even he is not playing should be in India. That’s how young players learn,” Jayawardene tweeted.

Don’t understand how @KusalMendis1 is not in the test squad? Even he is not playing should be in India. That’s how young players learn.

— Mahela Jayawardena (@MahelaJay) November 3, 2017

In the two-Test series, Mendis failed to impress selectors as he scored 10, 18, 1, 29 respectively in four innings. However, Jayawardene wants to see Mendis bat in India. Since his Test debut in 2015, the 22-year-old has scored 1441 runs at a decent average of 33.51 with three centuries. At the same time, he scored 1156 runs in 39 ODIs at an average of 32.11.

Kumar Sangakkara also unhappy with selectors for changing Mendis’ batting slot

However, not only Jayawardene but Kumar Sangakkara is also impressed with this young bloke’s potential. Earlier, Sanga had expressed his unhappiness as Mendis’ position in the batting line up was shuffled which he believed affected the right-handed batsman’s form.

In a tweet, Sangakkara questioned team management’s decision to change Mendis’s batting slot. “Why is @KusalMendis1 batting at #5? Shouldn’t he be 3 or 4 in the ODI’s,” he asked.

Why is @KusalMendis1 batting at #5? Shouldn't he be 3 or 4 in the ODI's

— Kumar Sangakkara (@KumarSanga2) October 14, 2017

During the tour of India, Sri Lanka will play three-Test, three ODIs and three T20Is respectively. During this series, both Jayawardene and Sangakkara believed Mendis could play an important role for Sri Lanka.

All eyes will be on the Sri Lankan side that won the Test series 2-0 against Pakistan in the UAE  Meanwhile, their batting coach Hasan Tillakaratne said Mendis will back to form soon. The youngster is a keen student and he wants to learn from his mistakes. But, it is quite difficult to understand why Mendis is not in the team when batting coach has confidence in his potential.

Earlier, Mendis had scored a hundred during India’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2016.