He has acquired for INR 75 lakh during the IPL 2025 mega auction.
Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis shone brightly on his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday. Mendis removed KKR half-centurion Angkrish Raghuvanshi in his first over during the match at the Eden Gardens.
Mendis is a unique weapon in the Sunrisers Hyderabad setup this season. He is known for his ambidextrous bowling ability, which means he can effectively bowl with both his right and left arms. As a result of this ability, Mendis bowls off-spin with his right arm whereas he uses his left arm to bowl orthodox spin.
Mendis delivered a tossed-up ball outside off to Raghuvanshi, who went for a lofted shot over extra cover. However, the latter ended up holing it out to Harshal Patel, who took the catch at deep backward point.
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At the IPL 2025 mega auction, SRH had secured the services of Mendis for INR 75 lakh. The 26-year-old has played 93 T20s to date and has scored 1,910 runs, including 12 fifties. The spinner has also taken 17 wickets in the shortest format.
Mendis rose to prominence at the 2016 Under-19 World Cup, where he took five wickets. During India’s tour of Sri Lanka last year, Kamindu bowled to Suryakumar Yadav with his left hand while using his right hand to bowl to Rishabh Pant.
Although this is his first-ever experience of playing in the IPL, Kamindu Mendis has played for Kandy Falcons in the Lanka Premier League (LPL). He has played 39 matches in the LPL, scoring 742 runs in 34 innings. He has also taken eight wickets.
Coming to Thursday’s match, Kolkata Knight Riders finished their innings at 200/6 with Angkrish Raghuvanshi (50) and Venkatesh Iyer (60) scoring fifties. Apart from Kamindu, Mohammad Shami, Zeeshan Ansari, Harshal Patel, and skipper Pat Cummins took a wicket each.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, the runners-up of IPL 2024, are aiming for their second win of the season.
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