Ajantha Mendis

Ajantha Mendis
Allegiance	Sri Lanka
Service / branch	Sri Lanka Army
Years of service	2005 -
Rank	Second Lieutenant
Unit	Sri Lanka Artillery

Ajantha Mendis

Source: Cricinfo, July 7 2008

Balapuwaduge Ajantha Winslo Mendis (born March 11, 1985 in Moratuwa) is a cricketer who plays for the Sri Lankan national cricket team.

Although classified as a right-arm, slow-medium bowler, Ajantha Mendis is a spinner who bowls a mixture of googlies, offbreaks, top-spinners, flippers and legbreaks. Batsmen have been confounded by the variety of deliveries he has up his sleeve and are at a loss to figure out what his stock delivery is. Mendis was a prolific wicket-taker for Sri Lanka Army in the 2007-08 season and had taken 46 wickets at an average of 10.56 and strike-rate of 31 from six matches. His performances did not go unnoticed for Mendis was called up to the Sri Lanka squad for the tour of West Indies in April 2008 After impressing on debut in the Caribbean, Mendis only grew in stature - in particular, because of his 'flicker', which he releases with an unusual snap of his fingers. In a short span of time since his debut, Mendis has flummoxed international batsmen and teams renowned for their ability to play spin bowling. His best bowling performance in a one-day international came in the final of the 2008 Asia Cup, where he took 6 wickets for 13 runs in just his eighth match. His 17 wickets in the tournament earned him the Man-of-the-Series award.

A right arm spinner, he made his One-Day International debut against the West Indies at Port of Spain in 2008 and took 3 for 39. He also plays for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.

Early years and personal life

Born in March 1985 Mendis hails from a hamlet in Moratuwa. He is the third child in a family of five with an elder brother and a sister. He has had his basic education at St Anthony's College at Kadalana in his village where there were no facilities at all for sports. He subsequently entered Moratuwa Maha Vidyalaya in the year of 2000. During a cricket coaching class, Mendis' talents were initially identified by the school coach named Mr Lucky Rogers back in the year 1998 when he was just 13 years of age. In the year 2000 he represented the school under 15 cricket team and he was selected to the first eleven team. He also deputized for the school team captain. This slow medium bowler with a variation of leg spin was adjudged the Best Bowler at the big-matches twice in 2001 and 2002.

Sri Lanka Army Cricket Committee noticed his talents when he played a cricket match against the Army under 23 Division 11 during 2003/2004 tournaments. Following this he was invited to enlist in the regular force of the Sri Lanka Army, this was particularly due to the low number of cricketers from Colombo schools joining the Army in the recent years. He enlisted, partly due to the reason that his father, the bread-winner for the family had passed away the week before due to a heart attack.

Major teams Sri Lanka, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sri Lanka Army, Wayamba

Military career

Following basic training he played for the army team and saw active military service as a Gunner in the Sri Lanka Artillery, a regiment of the Sri Lanka Army. Following the Asia Cup final, he has been promoted to the rank of Sergeant on the 7 July 2008 and the next day again to Second Lieutenant.

Domestic cricket

Mendis has represented the Army in 23 limited over matches and 59 two/three day matches, in which he has 38 wickets and 244 wickets respectively to his credit. Mendis bowls off spin as his stock delivery and he has few more variations in his armory- leg spin, top spin and faster bowl. All this was developed during 2006/2007 domestic seasons on his own. He also extended his purple patch in the domestic season 2007/2008 under 23 division 1 tournament and was later selected to the pool of "Academy Squad" organized by Sri Lanka Cricket. There he was able to polish his cricketing skills further. He had the opportunity of touring neighboring India on an eight-day tour in June 2007 where he was given the opportunity to play two, two-day matches. In the meantime, Sri Lanka Cricket selectors could not ignore his performance in the Premier Limited Over Tournament 2007/2008 and got him selected to play in the "Provincial Tournament 2008" representing "Wayamba Province" under the National Captain. In that tournament he performed exceptionally well with the ball. Local TV commentators predicted him as the ideal replacement for spin wizard Muralitharan in time to come and nick named him as "Mysterious Bowler". His marvelous performance in the said tournament got the National Selectors to observe him further closely. In the just concluded domestic season in Premier League Tournament, he has become the Most Successful Bowler by taking 68 wickets in nine matches which is also a record in any form of domestic cricket. The accomplishments of the Gunner Ajantha Mendis hit the pot of gold by getting himself selected to "National One Day Squad" to tour West Indies in March-April 2008.

Bowling style

The veteran West Indies cricket writer Tony Becca wrote in the Jamaica Gleaner: "Mendis bowls everything. With a smile on his face as he caresses the ball before delivering it, he bowls the offbreak, he bowls the legbreak, he bowls the googly, he bowls the flipper, he bowls a straight delivery, he bowls them with different grips and different actions, he bowls them with a different trajectory and at a different pace, and he disguises them brilliantly. The result is that he mesmerises, or bamboozles, batsmen."

Jerome Jayaratne, the Sri Lanka Cricket Academy coach, said: "Mendis is unusual, freaky and has developed a ball which could be described as a 'flicker', which he releases with a snap of his fingers, which is very unusual compared to other orthodox spin bowlers." That ball is reminiscent of the former Australia spinner Johnny Gleeson, who had a similar delivery.

Mendis is the author of a new delivery - the Carrom Ball. Since the Doosra, the Carrom Ball is the latest addition to the cricket lexicon.

To bowl a "carrom ball" in cricket, the ball is held between the thumb, forefinger and the middle finger, and instead of a regular release, the ball is squeezed out/ flicked by the fingers like a Carrom player flicking the disc on a Carrom Board. It could result in an off-break, a leg-break, a googly or even a zooter.

The term Carrom Ball was coined by Mahendra Mapagunaratne - a Sri Lankan lawyer resident in Toronto, Canada.

International career

Ajantha Mendis made his One day international debut against West Indies in at the Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, on Apr 10, 2008.

"I have just seen the future of spin bowling - and his name is Ajantha Mendis." Rob Steen thinks Sri Lanka's latest find is a keeper.

Ajantha Mendis, playing his eighth ODI, picked up the first six-wicket haul in the Asia Cup final against India in July 2008. His 6 for 13 is the third-best bowling performance in a tournament final, and the third-best for a spinner in ODIs. His 17 wickets is the best for an edition of the Asia Cup, and he bagged those wickets at an astounding average of 8.52. Ajantha Mendis won the man of the match award in the finals as well as the player of the tournament award for his efforts.

Personal Life

Ajantha is currently single and lives at home with his mother.

External links

• Cricinfo profile
• How to bowl the Carrom Ball
• http://www.indianexpress.com/story/330604.html
• http://content-pak.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/359207.html
• http://www.tehelka.com/story_main39.asp?filename=hub280608theslowkiller.asp

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