Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis turned heads on his IPL debut in Kolkata on Thursday, April 3, 2025, showcasing a rare skill that left fans and batters stunned.
Making his IPL debut at Eden Gardens, the ambidextrous Sunrisers Hyderabad spinner bowled both left-arm spin and right-arm off-spin in the same over, delighting the crowd with his versatility.
Introduced into the attack in the 13th over, he started with left-arm orthodox to right-hander Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who got a single off the first ball.
When lefthander Venkatesh Iyer stepped up, Mendis seamlessly switched to right-arm off-spin, conceding just another single.
He had a memorable debut, picking up the wicket of the well-set Raghuvanshi for 50 -- his first in the IPL.
For new batter Rinku Singh, a left-hander, Mendis again went back to bowling off-spin.
In his only over of the match, he conceded just four runs, as the KKR batters were clearly rattled by his unpredictable style.
Mendis, who bats left-handed, made an record-breaking start to his Test career. He is the first cricketer in the history of Tests, to score a 50-plus score in each of his first eight Tests.
Last year, he was the joint third fastest to reach five Test centuries, joining legends like Don Bradman and George Headley, who also scored five hundreds in 13 innings.
'Left - Right, Right - Left, Confused? That's what Kamindu Mendis causes in the minds of batters,' IPL tweeted on X.
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