KARACHI: Gusal Mendis, who quit the Pakistan Super League (PSL) during the 10th edition to join Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Gujarat Titans, was left speechless for a while.
The wicketkeeper-batsman previously represented Quetta Gladiators in the PSL last year as a key middle-order contributor and last featured for the franchise on May 7.
At the time Mendis chose not to travel to Pakistan due to security concerns and instead focused on the IPL, which he had not played in before.
He was later included in the Gujarat Titans squad as a replacement for Jos Buttler, who was unavailable due to international commitments with England ahead of the home ODI series against the West Indies. The IPL playoffs were scheduled to begin on the same day.
In five PSL matches, the 31-year-old scored 143 runs at a strike rate of 168 and also performed wicket-keeping duties while strengthening Quetta Gladiators’ batting line-up.
During Peshawar Zalmi’s post-match press conference against Lahore Qalandars at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi on Saturday, Mendis was asked about his decision to quit the PSL last season to join Gujarat Titans due to security concerns.
Given the smooth conduct of this year’s PSL and his absence from any IPL franchise this season, it has also been questioned whether he regrets the move in retrospect.
Mendis did not answer the question and remained silent, after which Zalmi’s media manager intervened and asked him to limit the questions to the match between Zalmi and Lahore Qalandars.
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