After the retirement of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lankan cricket was looking for the next big thing—someone who can catapult them to a new era of success and stability in international cricket. Kusal Mendis is the closest to a marquee player Sri Lanka had during their transition from the Sanga and Mahela era. A product of the school cricketing system in Sri Lanka, Mendis came into the limelight after winning Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 2013. A wicket-keeper-batsman, Mendis made his first-class debut for Bloomfield Cricket Club in 2015. He soon made his Test debut in the same year against West Indies. He was only 20 years old at the time and had only played 16 first-class innings. His ODI and T20I debut came in 2016. Mendis set the world alight when he scored a century against Australia in 2016 and led Sri Lanka to their second-ever victory against Australia in Tests. In the year 2018, he scored 1,000 Test runs in the calendar year. However, Mendis was handed a one-year ban from international cricket by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for breaching COVID-19 protocols during Sri Lanka's tour of England in 2021.