“Spinners have a quaint charm about them and some have a cloak of mystery around them to boot. And, Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis, who had the Indian batters under a (rather should it be his) spell in Sunday’s Asia Cup final with his tantalising bowling made more mysterious by his freakish action, is the new kid on the block and probably flag-bearer for the spinners of the future.”
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by C.Shvam Sunder
(July 09, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan gave a new dimension to spin bowling at a time when world cricket was shorn of quality tweakers.
The two were as different as chalk and cheese but made spin bowling a pre-eminent art with their amazing exploits.
Over the past decade or so, the two bamboozled batsmen around the world and were in a race for the highest wicket-taker tag.
Since the retirement of Warne and with Murali more closer to saying goodbye than hello, there has been talk about the lack of quality spinners in the game today. Purveyors of leg-spin and left-arm spin are hard to come by and the retirement of the unpredictable Stuart MacGill leaves Anil Kumble and a handful of others to keep the flag flying.
Spinners have a quaint charm about them and some have a cloak of mystery around them to boot. And, Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis, who had the Indian batters under a (rather should it be his) spell in Sunday’s Asia Cup final with his tantalising bowling made more mysterious by his freakish action, is the new kid on the block and probably flag-bearer for the spinners of the future.
Mendis threatens to turn cricket on its head with his mesmeric brand of spin, which defies convention and includes off breaks, leg breaks, googlies and top-spinners.
The 23-year-old Mendis, who took an amazing 6 for 13 against the hapless Indians, is basically two spinners rolled into one. He has no stock delivery and turns the ball both ways.
Though officially classified as a slow-medium bowler, he can spin the ball both ways and is hard to pick as Dhoni and his men found out.
The Indian ODI skipper conceded his batsmen, some of the world’s best players of spin, had been completely deceived during the spell by Mendis.
‘I think he was too hot to handle. We were playing him for the first time and he was lethal. In fact, none of us could pick him,’ Dhoni said after the final.
Mendis has also has invented a new delivery - the ‘carrom’ or ‘flicker’ ball - that he releases with a snap of his strong middle finger and could result in an off break, a leg break, a googly or even a zooter.
He claims his mystery ball spins randomly depending on the time of release, and some of the world’s top batsmen admit they are clueless.
In his fledgling career which has seen him play eight ODIs till date, Mendis has held his own and flummoxed some of the best.
The Lankans haven’t given him a go in Test cricket as yet and it remains to be seen if they decide to blood him in the forthcoming rubber against India, given the felicity with which the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid and co handle spin bowlers.
If the selectors do pick him for the series, it will interesting to see how the ‘mystery bowler’ fares against the Indian giants.
Even as Mendis’ career blossoms, comparisons with his legendary compatriot Murali will sure crop up. The two are similar in the fact that they are unconventional. Similarities end there as they are different types of bowlers and the latter has scaled several peaks in his glittering journey.
The youngster from Moratuwa will have to match the Kandy magician with his own brand (of magic) if he is to make a mark in world cricket, where class alone stands the test of time.
A mystery spinner he has been thus far. The mystery is now out in the open and every batsman will be aiming to solve it. The real challenge for Mendis to maintain that secrecy, begins now.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
________________
by C.Shvam Sunder
(July 09, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan gave a new dimension to spin bowling at a time when world cricket was shorn of quality tweakers.
The two were as different as chalk and cheese but made spin bowling a pre-eminent art with their amazing exploits.
Over the past decade or so, the two bamboozled batsmen around the world and were in a race for the highest wicket-taker tag.
Since the retirement of Warne and with Murali more closer to saying goodbye than hello, there has been talk about the lack of quality spinners in the game today. Purveyors of leg-spin and left-arm spin are hard to come by and the retirement of the unpredictable Stuart MacGill leaves Anil Kumble and a handful of others to keep the flag flying.
Spinners have a quaint charm about them and some have a cloak of mystery around them to boot. And, Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis, who had the Indian batters under a (rather should it be his) spell in Sunday’s Asia Cup final with his tantalising bowling made more mysterious by his freakish action, is the new kid on the block and probably flag-bearer for the spinners of the future.
Mendis threatens to turn cricket on its head with his mesmeric brand of spin, which defies convention and includes off breaks, leg breaks, googlies and top-spinners.
The 23-year-old Mendis, who took an amazing 6 for 13 against the hapless Indians, is basically two spinners rolled into one. He has no stock delivery and turns the ball both ways.
Though officially classified as a slow-medium bowler, he can spin the ball both ways and is hard to pick as Dhoni and his men found out.
The Indian ODI skipper conceded his batsmen, some of the world’s best players of spin, had been completely deceived during the spell by Mendis.
‘I think he was too hot to handle. We were playing him for the first time and he was lethal. In fact, none of us could pick him,’ Dhoni said after the final.
Mendis has also has invented a new delivery - the ‘carrom’ or ‘flicker’ ball - that he releases with a snap of his strong middle finger and could result in an off break, a leg break, a googly or even a zooter.
He claims his mystery ball spins randomly depending on the time of release, and some of the world’s top batsmen admit they are clueless.
In his fledgling career which has seen him play eight ODIs till date, Mendis has held his own and flummoxed some of the best.
The Lankans haven’t given him a go in Test cricket as yet and it remains to be seen if they decide to blood him in the forthcoming rubber against India, given the felicity with which the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid and co handle spin bowlers.
If the selectors do pick him for the series, it will interesting to see how the ‘mystery bowler’ fares against the Indian giants.
Even as Mendis’ career blossoms, comparisons with his legendary compatriot Murali will sure crop up. The two are similar in the fact that they are unconventional. Similarities end there as they are different types of bowlers and the latter has scaled several peaks in his glittering journey.
The youngster from Moratuwa will have to match the Kandy magician with his own brand (of magic) if he is to make a mark in world cricket, where class alone stands the test of time.
A mystery spinner he has been thus far. The mystery is now out in the open and every batsman will be aiming to solve it. The real challenge for Mendis to maintain that secrecy, begins now.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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