Full name Balapuwaduge Ajantha Winslo Mendis
Born March 11, 1985, Moratuwa
Current age 24 years 258 days
Major teams Sri Lanka, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sri Lanka Army, Wayamba
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak, Legbreak
Batting | Bowling | Career statistics | Profile | Notes | Latest Articles | Photos+ | Latest Photos
| Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | Ct | St | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 9 | 9 | 3 | 31 | 17 | 5.16 | 55 | 56.36 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| ODIs | 36 | 18 | 8 | 81 | 15* | 8.10 | 118 | 68.64 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| T20Is | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4* | - | 2 | 200.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| First-class | 31 | 42 | 3 | 448 | 37 | 11.48 | 750 | 59.73 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| List A | 55 | 33 | 11 | 408 | 71* | 18.54 | 461 | 88.50 | 0 | 2 | 36 | 7 | 9 | 0 |
| Twenty20 | 31 | 11 | 6 | 21 | 9 | 4.20 | 30 | 70.00 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 9 | 16 | 2358 | 1136 | 42 | 6/117 | 10/209 | 27.04 | 2.89 | 56.1 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| ODIs | 36 | 35 | 1683 | 1162 | 71 | 6/13 | 6/13 | 16.36 | 4.14 | 23.7 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| T20Is | 12 | 12 | 276 | 244 | 25 | 4/15 | 4/15 | 9.76 | 5.30 | 11.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| First-class | 31 | 56 | 6571 | 3022 | 171 | 7/37 | 10/74 | 17.67 | 2.75 | 38.4 | 16 | 10 | 2 |
| List A | 55 | 52 | 2477 | 1586 | 108 | 6/13 | 6/13 | 14.68 | 3.84 | 22.9 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Twenty20 | 31 | 31 | 682 | 674 | 46 | 4/15 | 4/15 | 14.65 | 5.92 | 14.8 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Test debut | Sri Lanka v India at Colombo (SSC), Jul 23-26, 2008 scorecard |
| Last Test | Sri Lanka v New Zealand at Galle, Aug 18-22, 2009 scorecard |
| Test statistics | |
| ODI debut | West Indies v Sri Lanka at Port of Spain, Apr 10, 2008 scorecard |
| Last ODI | New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Johannesburg, Sep 27, 2009 scorecard |
| ODI statistics | |
| T20I debut | Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe at King City (NW), Oct 10, 2008 scorecard |
| Last T20I | Sri Lanka v New Zealand at Colombo (RPS), Sep 4, 2009 scorecard |
| T20I statistics | |
| First-class debut | Lankan Cricket Club v Sri Lanka Army at Welisara, Nov 17-19, 2006 scorecard |
| Last First-class | Sri Lanka Army Sports Club v Saracens Sports Club at Panagoda, Oct 30-Nov 1, 2009 scorecard |
| List A debut | Sri Lanka Army v Lankan Cricket Club at Colombo (RPS), Nov 8, 2006 scorecard |
| Last List A | New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Johannesburg, Sep 27, 2009 scorecard |
| Twenty20 debut | Sri Lanka Army v Ragama Cricket Club at Colombo (CCC), Feb 28, 2007 scorecard |
| Last Twenty20 | Victoria v Wayamba at Delhi, Oct 13, 2009 scorecard |
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 'carrom ball', which he releases with an unusual snap of his fingers. In a short span Mendis has flummoxed some international batsmen who've played spin pretty well in their careers. Just ask the Indians, who were clueless against him in the Asia Cup final, where Mendis netted 6 for 13 in his eighth one-day international. His 17 wickets in the tournament duly earned him the Man-of-the-Series award and soon after earned a call-up to the Test squad to face India at home. What a series it was: the best returns for a bowler in a three match-debut series, beating Alec Bedser's record by two. Mendis started by becoming the first Sri Lankan to take eight wickets on Test debut, and finished with 26 wickets, bamboozling India with unpredictability, killer efficiency and numbing accuracy, to be named Man of the Series.
Cricinfo Staff August 2008
ICC Emerging Player of the Year 2008
- Teams back to square one (Nov 23, 2009)
- Sri Lanka well poised to challenge India (Nov 15, 2009)
- Mendis arrives (Nov 8, 2009)
- Afridi joins South Australia for Twenty20 (Oct 26, 2009)
- Dhoni leads World ODI Team of the Year (Oct 1, 2009)
Nov 13, 2009
Ajantha Mendis gestures during a training session
© AFP
Nov 9, 2009
Ajantha Mendis concentrates hard during catching practice
© Associated Press
Sep 22, 2009
Ajantha Mendis is all smiles after sending back Jacques Kallis
© AFP
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