Deshamanya Deshamanya ( si, දේශමාන්‍ය, translit=Dēshamāṉya; ta, தேசமான்ய, translit=Tēcamāṉya; Pride of the Nation) is the second-highest national honour of Sri Lanka awarded by the Government of Sri Lanka as a ...

Louis Rohan Duleep Mendis (born 25 August 1952), known as Duleep Mendis, is a former Sri Lankan

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and former captain of the team, who captained Sri Lanka to their first

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

series victory in 1985. He was primarily a specialist

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

, whose best period as a player came from 1982 to 1985. He is currently the coach of the

Oman national cricket team The Oman national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Oman and is governed by the Oman Cricket Board, which became an Affiliate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2000, and gained Associate status in 2014. ...

. He was awarded the

(Sri Lanka's second-highest national honour) in 1996.

Early years

He spent his college life at St. Sebastian's College, Moratuwa and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. Mendis also captained the Under 20 1st XI sides of both colleges.

International career

Mendis made his debut for Sri Lanka in 1972, batting at number three against the visiting

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

side. Mendis top-scored in the first innings with 52, and also made 34 in the second innings, but could not prevent an innings defeat. This match did not have international status, and indeed Mendis represented Sri Lanka in a number of non-internationals. His first ODI, however, came during the first Cricket World Cup in 1975, when he made 8 against the

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in a batting collapse. He was hit in the head by Jeff Thomson in a match versus Australia, and when able to speak again, told the Australians "I am going now", retiring hurt on 32. It took seven more years before Mendis got to play a

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

; on 17 February 1982 he joined forces with the other Sri Lankans against

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. In that match, he was sent in to bat at number four, but only made 17 and 27 in Sri Lanka's seven-wicket defeat. More defeats followed, and in his first eight innings he only recorded one fifty, in the first Test of three against

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. However, on tour of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in the northern autumn of 1982 he showed his real skill. Sri Lanka had lost two early wickets for 11 runs, and Mendis was sent in to bat with

Roy Dias Roy Luke Dias (born 18 October 1952) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played Tests and ODIs for Sri Lanka. An elegant and stylish right-handed batsman he played 20 Test matches and became the first Sri Lankan to hit 1,000 Test runs. He ...

. Their partnership was worth 153 runs, then a third-wicket record for Sri Lanka, and Mendis' maiden century helped Sri Lanka bat out the first day. Then, India amassed 566 for 6 before declaring, leaving Sri Lanka to try to save the draw. Again, the openers fell for single-digit scores, and again Mendis made 105 – which helped Sri Lanka bat until tea on the fifth day. Sri Lanka eventually drew the Test, their first drawn Test series in their history. In the

1983 Cricket World Cup The 1983 Cricket World Cup (officially the Prudential Cup '83) was the 3rd edition of the Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from 9 to 25 June 1983 in England and Wales and was won by India. Eight countries participated in the event. En ...

, Mendis recorded his third

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

fifty (the previous two came in the 1979 World Cup and on tour to

in 1982). However, despite a respectable

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of 25.33, Mendis' fortunes were the reverse of the Sri Lankan side. Sri Lanka lost the games in which he made reasonable scores, while Mendis made a duck in Sri Lanka's only win. Mendis recorded a string of poor scores on

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's tour of the island in 1984, only passing 20 once in six Test innings. By this time, however, he was established as the

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of the side, and still picked for the Test match in

that English summer. Mendis made his third Test century as Sri Lanka smashed 491 for 7 batting first amid the rain, and the first Test century by a Sri Lankan

while in office. Sri Lanka drew that Test. A poor

World Series Cup The Australian Tri-Series was an annual one day international (ODI) cricket tournament held in Australia, and contested by Australia and two touring teams. The series was the primary format for international one-day cricket throughout most of t ...

in 1984–85 followed, where Sri Lanka only won one out of ten ODIs, and Mendis was out in single figures four times. Then came the 1985

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tour. Mendis led from the front, scoring three fifties and one series-saving century in the third

, as India were defeated 1–0 in three Tests. After that tour, which also included a drawn ODI series, Mendis' career declined, and by the end of his career it was probably only his captaincy that kept him in. He made two Test fifties in his last ten Tests, and two ODI fifties in his last 32 ODIs following the India tour.

Ranjan Madugalle Deshabandu Ranjan Senerath Madugalle ( si, රන්ජන් මඩුගල්ල; born 22 April 1959) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who currently serves as the Chief of the panel of ICC match referees. He was educated at Trinity College, K ...

replaced him as captain for the last Test that Mendis played, where he bowed out with a rearguard 56 that was, however, not to be good enough to save a draw. He remained within the Sri Lankan cricketing sphere, however, as he was manager of the successful

1996 Cricket World Cup The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup 1996 after the Wills Navy Cut brand produced by tournament sponsor ITC, was the sixth Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was the second World Cu ...

side. Later on he went on to coach the Oman cricket team and helped them qualify for their first 2016 World T20 in 2015.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendis, Duleep 1952 births Living people Sinhalese Sports Club cricketers Sri Lanka One Day International cricketers Sri Lanka Test cricketers Sri Lankan cricketers Sri Lanka Test cricket captains Cricketers at the 1975 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1979 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup Sportspeople from Moratuwa Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Alumni of St. Sebastian's College, Moratuwa Sri Lankan cricket coaches Coaches of the Oman national cricket team Sri Lanka Premier League coaches Sri Lankan Roman Catholics Sri Lankan expatriates in Oman Deshamanya Sinhalese sportspeople