Sri Lanka have three batters in their Test squad facing Bangladesh who feature among the top five in the world in terms of first-class batting averages.
The first Test of the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle, between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, got underway in Galle on Tuesday (June 17). Hosts Sri Lanka only announced their squad for the first of the two Tests a couple of days ahead of the clash, naming as many as six uncapped players.
Also read: Who are the six uncapped players in Sri Lanka’s Test squad v Bangladesh?
Among the six is Pasindu Sooriyabandara, a 25-year-old right-hand batter whose first-class average reads 56.87 from 53 games. Sooriyabandara didn't get a debut in Galle - the two players who did are Tharindu Rathnayake and Lahiru Udara - but he does join Kamindu Mendis and Pathum Nissanka in the squad to complete a troika of batters with some of the highest batting averages in first-class cricket currently.
1st Test, Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh
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Highest first-class batting averages, active cricketers: Three Sri Lankans in top five
| Player | Country | Matches | Innings | Runs | HS | Avg | 100s | 50s |
| Sarfaraz Khan | India | 55 | 83 | 4,685 | 301* | 65.98 | 16 | 15 |
| Kamindu Mendis | Sri Lanka | 56 | 87 | 4,920 | 200* | 61.5 | 18 | 23 |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | India | 38 | 70 | 3,822 | 265 | 58.8 | 13 | 13 |
| Pasindu Sooriyabandara | Sri Lanka | 53 | 80 | 3,981 | 242 | 56.87 | 12 | 19 |
| Pathum Nissanka | Sri Lanka | 56 | 99 | 4,893 | 217 | 54.97 | 17 | 21 |
| Fawad Alam | Pakistan | 212 | 331 | 15,197 | 296* | 54.86 | 44 | 77 |
| Bahir Shah | Afghanistan | 53 | 92 | 4,167 | 303* | 54.82 | 13 | 16 |
| Rinku Singh | India | 50 | 72 | 3,336 | 163* | 54.68 | 7 | 22 |
| Shahidullah | Afghanistan | 35 | 57 | 2,872 | 189 | 54.18 | 10 | 12 |
| Steve Smith | Australia | 180 | 312 | 14,975 | 239 | 54.06 | 52 | 63 |
Among the three Sri Lankans in this list, Nissanka was the first to make his Test debut - in 2021 against the West Indies. The ongoing Test against Bangladesh is his 17th. From 16 games so far, he averages 36 in the international red-ball format, having scored two hundreds so far, both away from home - a fourth-innings unbeaten 127 in England and a 103 in the Caribbean.
Nissanka made his first-class debut nine years back in 2016, and has scored 17 centuries from 56 matches so far. His average of 54.97 is the 35th-highest of all time at the time of writing, and the fifth-highest among active cricketers.
Kamindu Mendis, who shot to fame for his ambidextrous bowling at the 2016 Under-19 World Cup, soon shed that tag as he piled on a mountain of runs in domestic cricket, forcing his way into the Test side by 2022. He is currently only one of two active batters to have played at least 50 innings and average more than 60 in first-class cricket, the other being Sarfaraz Khan, who was most recently dropped from the India Test side for the England tour.
Unlike Nissanka, Mendis' start to his Test career has been phenomenal. He scored his fifth Test ton in just his 13th innings, breaking the Asian world record by a distance and equalling Don Bradman. Before the start of the Galle Test, he averaged 62.31 in Test cricket. The only player with more runs and a higher average than Mendis is Don Bradman. Decent company.
Sooriyabandara made his first-class debut in 2018 and might have to wait for a Test cap till the second game of the series, by when Angelo Mathews will no longer be an active international cricketer. He recently made a hundred while leading Sri Lanka A against Afghanistan A in April this year and a double ton for the Moors Sports Club in the SLC Major Clubs 3-Day Tournament 2024/25 in January. Among active cricketers, only Sarfaraz, Mendis and Yashasvi Jaiswal average higher than him in first-class cricket.
The list of active batters with highest first-class averages is dominated by Asians, who occupy nine of the top 10 spots. Apart from three Sri Lankans, three Indians, one Pakistani, and one Afghan batter make the list. The only non-Asian batter in the top 10 is Steve Smith, whose Test average (56.55) is higher than his overall first-class average (54.06) despite having played 117 Test matches.
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