Sri Lanka’s new Test Captain Kusal Mendis reached new heights in his illustrious cricket career by becoming the first player from his country to score a hundred on debut as Test Captain.
Mendis achieved this landmark on the third day of the first Test at Rawalpindi where he scored his 11th Test hundred to remain 117* by the close, putting his team within touching distance of Pakistan’s first innings total.
It was a very unique day for Sri Lanka that saw both the outgoing skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (167*) and the incoming skipper Mendis hitting centuries and adding a record 249* runs together to lift Sri Lanka from 155-4 to 404-4.
Mendis is the third player to achieve this landmark this year. He joined Afghanistan’s Rahmat Shah – 105* and 51 against Bangladesh at Abu Dhabi on 9 October, and Zimbabwean Brian Bennett – 128 and 58 against Afghanistan at Sharjah on 5 November.
Mendis becomes the 37th player in the overall list that comprises 9 Captains from Australia, 6 from England, 3 from South Africa, 5 from India, 3 from West Indies, 4 from New Zealand, 4 from Zimbabwe, 1 from Bangladesh and 1 from Afghanistan.
Greg Chappell of Australia (123 and 109*) v West Indies at Brisbane, 1975 and Virat Kohli of India (115 and 141) v Australia at Adelaide in 2014 are the only two Captains to score a century in each innings of a Test on debut as Captain.
The highest individual score made by a player on debut as Test Captain is 367* by South Africa’s Wiann Mulder against Zimbabwe at Queen’s SC, Bulawayo in July 2025.