Kamindu Mendis and Chamari Athapaththu Bag the Biggest Honors at Sri Lanka Cricket Awards 2024

Kamindu Mendis and Chamari Athapaththu were the biggest winners at the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Awards on Monday night. The awards ceremony recognized Sri Lankan players who performed exceptionally in 2024.

Men’s Categories

Kamindu Mendis had an exceptional 2024, topping the run-scoring charts for his side in Tests. He scored 1,049 runs in just nine Tests at an average of 74.92. He was outscored by only four batters in 2024 — Joe Root, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ben Duckett, and Harry Brook — all of whom played more Tests, with the closest one featuring in 12 matches.

Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka were the leading contenders for the batting awards in the white-ball format. Kusal scored 628 runs in T20Is in 2024, outscoring Nissanka (622 runs) to claim the Best T20I Batter honor. Nissanka returned the favor in ODIs, winning the award with 694 runs at an average of 63.09, compared to Kusal’s 742 runs at 53.00. Nissanka also became the first Sri Lankan batter to score a double hundred in ODIs when he played a sensational unbeaten knock of 210 against Afghanistan in 2024.

In the bowling department, Prabath Jayasuriya won the Best Test Bowler award after claiming 48 wickets across nine Tests. Asitha Fernando came a close second with 37 scalps in the same number of matches. Dhananjaya de Silva won the Best Test All-Rounder award for his 710 runs and six wickets in ten Tests.

Wanindu Hasaranga was the big winner in white-ball cricket, winning the Best Bowler award in both T20Is and ODIs after taking 38 and 26 wickets respectively. He also clinched the Best T20I All-Rounder award, thanks to his 179 runs with the bat. Charith Asalanka, the ODI skipper, won the Best ODI All-Rounder award. He scored 605 runs at an average of 50.4 and bowled economically at 4.78, playing a pivotal role in Sri Lanka’s 80% ODI win rate (12-3) in 2024.

Women’s (Athapaththu’s) Categories

It was more of Athapaththu’s category than the women's categories, as the Sri Lankan superstar bagged all but one award. She claimed six awards in total, including the Women’s Cricketer of the Year. She also won the Batting, Bowling, and All-Rounder awards for T20Is, thanks to her 720 runs — second only to Smriti Mandhana — and 21 wickets.

Athapaththu missed out on the Best Bowler in ODIs to Kavisha Dilhari, who took 17 wickets in the format. However, she still won the Best Batter and All-Rounder honors, thanks to her 458 runs and nine wickets in as many matches.

The Emerging Player of the Year award went to Janith Liyanage. Liyanage made his ODI debut in January 2024 and had an impressive 12 months with the bat, scoring 462 runs at 46.20 and strengthening Sri Lanka’s depleted middle order.

In total, 46 awards were given during the ceremony. The Match Referee of the Year award went to Pradeep Jeyapragash, while Chamara de Zoysa was named Umpire of the Year.