To start with, the whole idea just feels off. A sober stock-take on the career of Kamindu Mendis at the beginning of only his second serious Test year? Yah, who asked for this?
So much more fun to be stuck in that Kamindu Mendis fever dream. An average of 74 after 17 Test innings? Uff! Five hundreds out of nine 50-plus scores? Yes please. All 1110 of his runs from No. 5 or lower? That's the stuff. And have you seen how this brother flicks even the fastest Test bowlers through the air over square leg? Right off his toes, sometimes all the way for six.
But there are potentially universes where worse things happen. In one of the more cursed timelines, there might exist a pre-series column focusing on Kamindu, in which there is significant bringing back to reality, a ruining of the vibe, a killing of the buzz.
Such a column might point out that Kamindu had his first less-than-stellar series in South Africa, where he averaged an unusually human 26.50 across four innings. He got some excellent deliveries from South Africa's quicks, but there did also seem to be a tiny weakness to the shorter ball in the channel, angling across him from the right-arm seamers.
There could also be warnings. Kamindu is not the first Sri Lankan batter to emerge in the last 10 years from whom greatness was expected. Many of those expectations haven't quite panned out, with several batters unable to consolidate careers after starting well, and others plataeuing earlier than expected. There is the not wanting to thrust the mantle of greatness on him too early, but also the hard facts of middle-order runs needing to be scored if Sri Lanka are to improve, and Kamindu being pretty well-placed to score them.
Or perhaps that column would draw attention to the greatest buzzkill subject of all - the Test schedule. Tests, the only format in which Kamindu has truly excelled at international level, are in short supply for Sri Lanka this year. Following this two-match series against Australia, there is a two-Test series against Bangladesh mid-year, and then nothing on the books until the middle of 2026, when Sri Lanka travel to the West Indies. Sri Lanka's next World Test Championship cycle features exactly 12 Tests - the minimum required.
(In the second Test of this Australia series, Dimuth Karunaratne is set to play his 100th Test. It may ultimately not matter how consistently Kamindu scores big runs, it seems unlikely he can play 100 Tests if Sri Lanka average only six matches a year.)
Such a column might conclude that although Kamindu has had the best possible start to his Test career, the year ahead may be the definitive one for him. For starters, anyone who has had a year like Kamindu's 2024 will now have had their technique pored over by opposition analysts and coaches. Bowlers will come with theories on how to get him out. Too often in the last 10 years, opposition bowlers have been right about young Sri Lanka batters.
Beyond this, another exam. With Sri Lanka's Test schedule likely to dwindle, there is also now the heat to become a more productive limited-overs player. Kamindu's domestic T20 career in particular suggests that he has the range and skill to become a success in white-ball cricket, but he is yet to crack the shorter formats in international cricket.
It is not often that a batter who has scored more than a thousand Test runs in the previous calendar year has this many hurdles still to overcome. But cricket's sands are shifting, and these are the breaks.
On Kamindu's side is his obvious talent for expanding his game. But also, the fact that the next challenge is one he should relish - playing two Tests in his home town, in the format he has already made a name for himself in. He also averages 123.33 in Galle, after three Tests there.
But Australia's tall fast bowlers will have watched the footage from South Africa, and will try him where they think he is weak. And this next step is where many Sri Lanka batters have stumbled.
Or so at least that column would say.