Who are these Kusals?
Kusal Janith Perera
The Royal College left handed attacking wicketkeeper batsman Kusal Janith Perera appointed has the 23rd Captain of the Sri Lankan One Day International Team
Possessed of a short backlift, powerful forearms, and relentless bloody-mindedness, left-handed batsman Kusal Janith Perera’s batting is not just inspired by his hero Sanath Jayasuriya’s technique, at times, it seems an exact duplicate.
Like Jayasuriya, he has a second skill – though it is wicketkeeping rather than slow left-arm, and he was part of Sri Lanka’s Under-19 teams before he joined Colts Cricket Club as a senior. At Colts, Perera quickly set about forging a career founded on aggression and reliability in equal parts, and after two seasons, Sri Lanka’s selectors could no longer ignore him.
Kusal Mendis
Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa master class right-handed batsman Kusal Mendis appointed as the deputy to the Skipper Kusal Janith
Blessed with a compact technique, an aggressive impulse, and an iron resolve, Kusal Mendis rose rapidly through the age-group system and quickly became one of the most promising young batsmen in the world. He had played only 16 first-class innings before he made his Test debut at the age of 20, and had hit only one first-class hundred before he made a maiden Test ton. That hundred – the 176 against Australia at Pallekele – was a match-flipping, series-defining knock, which given the fact no other batsman mustered more than 55 in the game, is one of the greatest ever Sri Lankan innings. Since then, Mendis has put together some impressive ODI innings as well and has embedded himself in the Test top four.
A highly-rated graduate of Sri Lanka’s school cricket system, Mendis’ batting had earned him a large following long before he was on the national selectors’ radar. As a wicketkeeper and flowing right-hand batsman, Mendis won the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year award in 2013, for his work in the Prince of Wales College team. He was Sri Lanka’s under-19 captain in the Youth World Cup the following year.
We Sri Lankan Sports TV wish both the Kusals to bring back the Sri Lankan 1996 glory
