A three-tool player is baseball parlance for someone who excels in the three major facets of the sport.
If one were to extend that thought to cricket, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Kamindu Mendis can be described as a four-tool player – assured with the bat, athletic in the field and capable of bowling spin with both hands. A unicorn of a cricketer, if one might say.
On Friday, the multifaceted Kamindu proved to be the difference for SRH in an attritional win against Chennai Super Kings at the Chepauk.
Playing just his third IPL game, the Sri Lankan all-rounder made an impact with all four of his skill sets to power his side to a third win of the season.
With the ball, Kamindu effortlessly switched from left-arm spin for right-handed batters to off-spin for left-handed batters, offering SRH a readymade away-turning option against CSK.
For SRH head coach Daniel Vettori, Kamindu’s near-equal proficiency with both arms has been a pleasant surprise.
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“I think I probably didn’t quite appreciate how good his bowling was with both arms. His ability to go back and forward and control his pace is a real skill. So, at least to give us one option to take it away [from the batters], it just balanced our team perfectly,” said Vettori at the post-match press conference on Friday.
The ambidextrous spinner helped SRH gain ascendancy in the middle overs by conceding just six runs in his first two overs while rattling Ravindra Jadeja’s stumps with a quick arm ball.
But Kamindu’s bowling figures took a hit in his third over, where he was mowed for three sixes by Dewald Brevis, while bowling his left-arm spin.
It didn’t take too long for Kamindu to make amends, with what would become his most eye-catching involvement from the game.
In the very next over, Kamindu extinguished the South African’s blazing knock with a stunning catch. CSK head coach Stephen Fleming later pinpointed Kamindu’s grab as the moment where the game slipped from his team’s hands.
Posted at long off, the SRH all-rounder reacted quickly to a flat, thumping shot from Brevis towards his left. With eyes firmly on the ball, he ate up the ground, covering over 10 metres in a flash, before lifting off and attacking the flying orb with both hands – a dive that would have made Fiorentina goalkeeper David de Gea proud.
Harshal Patel of Sunrisers Hyderabad reacts to the stunning catch from Kamindu Mendis to dismiss Dewald Brevis of Chennai Super Kings.
| Photo Credit:
Prathiksha MK / Sportzpics for IPL
Harshal Patel of Sunrisers Hyderabad reacts to the stunning catch from Kamindu Mendis to dismiss Dewald Brevis of Chennai Super Kings.
| Photo Credit:
Prathiksha MK / Sportzpics for IPL
A few seconds later, Kamindu emerged back on his feet, with the ball safe in his grasp as Chepauk gaped in astonishment.
“I think it’s just instinct. It’s an innate ability to be able to move, to see the ball and time your diving. Probably one of those catches that even a brilliant fielder only has one or two in their career.
“More importantly, [it came] at the moment in the game when Brevis was starting to take control, putting a lot of pressure back on us. And if he’d stayed in, I don’t know the score would have got more out of us, and it would have been a difficult chase,” said Vettori.
Kamindu’s day was far from over after the catch. The left-handed batter was soon back in the middle, marshalling a tricky chase for SRH on a surface which was gripping.
The Sri Lankan dug into his Test cricket pedigree – Kamindu averages 62.31 in the longer format – to prevent his team from sliding from five-down. The 26-year-old struck just three fours in his 32-run knock as he waded through waves of CSK pressure to secure a much-needed win for his team.
Kamindu’s batting ability, particularly against spin, was something SRH was banking on at the Chepauk.
“A lot of the logic was figuring for this ground is that we knew what sort of service we’d come up against. And to have a batsman who has the ability to play all types of spin, be aggressive and hit a multitude of shots is perfect,” said Vettori.
Despite being the physical manifestation of the idea of a perfect spin-bowling all-rounder, Kamindu’s T20 career has been a stop-start one, often weighed down by his limited big-hitting ability. His versatile performance against CSK could be the ignition spark it needed.