ASIA CUP 2010: Has the Ajantha Mendis mystery resolved?
It was during the last Asia Cup in Karachi approximately two years back that a mystery spin bowler came to the fore of international cricket. His name was Ajantha Mendis and nobody could play him due to his unusual-yet-legitimate bowling action. A few years later and in 2010, the same mystery Mendis is no more part of the squad that was named for the four-nation event in Sri Lanka.
Former Sri Lankan batsman and current chairman of selectors Aravinda de Silva said Ajantha Mendis was left out for "tactical reasons". But fans of the game feel that with the advancement in technology and analysis, the mystery behind Ajantha Mendis may be as good as decoded!
Not even Balapuwaduge Ajantha Winslo Mendis, born at Moratuwa on March 11, 1985 would have believed that by his 25th birthday that he would be the most destructive of bowlers in all forms of cricket, with an air of mystery that some might solve, and some might not. His axing from the squad of the Asia Cup will dent his confidence, but after his 2 years in international cricket, he might rethink his strategy and come back as a stronger bowler.
For some time, he bamboozled statisticians off the field as well as cricketers on it, since no one knew what kind of a bowler he was. Although classified as a slow-medium in the early part of his career, but was later termed a spinner, with a mixture of deliveries, including googlies, off-breaks, top-spinners, flippers and leg-breaks in his arsenal. His mystery delivery, known as the ‘Carrom Ball’ that he released with a flick of his middle finger, was the most dangerous and dismissed batsmen, at will.
Ajantha Mendis became headline news when he was used as a strike bowler by Mahela Jayawardene during the last Asia Cup. He was a success during the tournament and guided Sri Lanka to the title by taking 17 wickets in 5 matches. His best bowling performance also came in the final of the tournament, where he took 6 wickets for 13 runs. He also transferred his success in tests where on debut, he returned with match figures of 8-132, thereby becoming the first Sri Lankan to get an eight-wicket haul on debut.
In both Tests and ODIs, he has taken 5 wickets in an innings on multiple occasions. He took 6 wickets in an innings twice, once against Zimbabwe and once against India while his 5 wicket haul came against United Arab Emirates during the last Asia Cup. He took 8 wickets in his debut test, ten wickets in his next and 8 again in his third test. So far, he has taken 44 wickets in his 10 tests while 77 batsmen have lost their wickets to him in 44 one-dayers. If he earns a recall to the national side in the next few months, he might go on and break many records that one doesn’t feel could be broken in the near future.
He also won the Emerging Player of the Year award at the ICC Awards in 2008. He is commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Sri Lankan army where, before the Asia Cup, he was a Gunner in the Artillery. Following his Man of the Series performance in the Asia Cup, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant, and within a day commissioned as a Second Lieutenant.
So, does Mendis deserve to be axed like this? I don’t think so, because he has recently been more active as an attacking bowler than as an economical one, in the absence of Muralitharan. With Muralitharan about to retire from all forms of the game, Mendis could have been his ideal replacement. He could have gotten out of his loss of form with a couple of good games, and even in bad form, he is better than many spinners on international circuit.
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