Mahela Jayawardene comes up with a piece of advice for underperforming Kusal Mendis

Sri Lanka’s terrible run in ODI cricket does not seem to end. They were recently beaten in the fourth ODI against the visiting English side in Pallekele. With the defeat, they ended up conceding an unassailable 0-3 lead to England in the series. The aftermath of the defeat saw a lot of players get in the firing range. Among the underperforming players, young Kusal Mendis ended up facing some heat of the critics.

The 23-year old batsman was once tipped to be the next big thing in Sri Lankan cricket. He had made an excellent start to his international cricket career but the downfall has been quite evident in recent times. Albeit he has managed to score well in Test cricket in the last couple of seasons, his run in the limited-overs format has been under the scrutiny.

Kusal Mendis has scores of 5, 0, 22, 0, 0 in the last five List A matches he has played (this includes four ODI fixtures). Needless to concede, he is struggling big time. His ODI average has dipped down to almost 27. His average in T20Is is worse, a number lingering around 22.

Amidst this backdrop, the youngster has found some support from former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene. He recently took to Twitter to express his views on the current form of Kusal Mendis. In his tweet, Jayawardene suggested that the youngster should consider taking a short break from international cricket.

The former cricketer remarked that every cricketer goes through a lean patch and it is the same in the case of Mendis as well. There seems to be no absolute reason to be harsh on the Moratuwa-born cricketer. Jayawardene hopes to see Mendis bounce back strong in the coming days and make a name for himself yet again at the highest level.

Here is what Mahela Jayawardene tweeted:

“I just feel the young man @KusalMendis1 needs a little break from international cricket . He is a talented player who is going through a rough patch which can happen to anyone,” the former cricketer wrote in his recent tweet.

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