Ajantha Mendis
Full name Balapuwaduge Ajantha Winslo Mendis
Born March 11, 1985, Moratuwa
Current age 24 years 115 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 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 25 | 17 | 6.25 | 39 | 64.10 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| ODIs | 28 | 13 | 7 | 66 | 15* | 11.00 | 80 | 82.50 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| T20Is | 10 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4* | - | 1 | 400.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| First-class | 27 | 36 | 1 | 423 | 37 | 12.08 | 699 | 60.51 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| List A | 47 | 28 | 10 | 393 | 71* | 21.83 | 423 | 92.90 | 0 | 2 | 36 | 7 | 8 | 0 |
| Twenty20 | 27 | 9 | 4 | 20 | 9 | 4.00 | 27 | 74.07 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 6 | 10 | 1639 | 784 | 34 | 6/117 | 10/209 | 23.05 | 2.87 | 48.2 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| ODIs | 28 | 27 | 1279 | 841 | 64 | 6/13 | 6/13 | 13.14 | 3.94 | 19.9 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| T20Is | 10 | 10 | 228 | 198 | 23 | 4/15 | 4/15 | 8.60 | 5.21 | 9.9 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| First-class | 27 | 48 | 5593 | 2564 | 155 | 7/37 | 10/74 | 16.54 | 2.75 | 36.0 | 16 | 9 | 2 |
| List A | 47 | 44 | 2073 | 1265 | 101 | 6/13 | 6/13 | 12.52 | 3.66 | 20.5 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Twenty20 | 27 | 27 | 586 | 572 | 41 | 4/15 | 4/15 | 13.95 | 5.85 | 14.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Test debut | Sri Lanka v India at Colombo (SSC), Jul 23-26, 2008 scorecard |
| Last Test | Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Lahore, Mar 1-5, 2009 scorecard |
| Test statistics | |
| ODI debut | West Indies v Sri Lanka at Port of Spain, Apr 10, 2008 scorecard |
| Last ODI | Sri Lanka v India at Colombo (RPS), Feb 8, 2009 scorecard |
| ODI statistics | |
| T20I debut | Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe at King City (NW), Oct 10, 2008 scorecard |
| Last T20I | Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Lord's, Jun 21, 2009 scorecard |
| T20I statistics | |
| First-class debut | Lankan Cricket Club v Sri Lanka Army at Welisara, Nov 17-19, 2006 scorecard |
| Last First-class | Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Lahore, Mar 1-5, 2009 scorecard |
| List A debut | Sri Lanka Army v Lankan Cricket Club at Colombo (RPS), Nov 8, 2006 scorecard |
| Last List A | Sri Lanka v India at Colombo (RPS), Feb 8, 2009 scorecard |
| Twenty20 debut | Sri Lanka Army v Ragama Cricket Club at Colombo (CCC), Feb 28, 2007 scorecard |
| Last Twenty20 | Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Lord's, Jun 21, 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
- Challenging new role for Mendis (Jul 3, 2009)
- The top crop (Jun 22, 2009)
- Sangakkara banks on team unity (Jun 18, 2009)
- No batsman has figured me out - Mendis (Jun 18, 2009)
- Bowlers give Sri Lanka the advantage (Jun 18, 2009)
Jun 19, 2009
Ajantha Mendis celebrates the wicket of Shivnarine Chanderpaul
© AFP
Jun 19, 2009
Ajantha Mendis took 2 for 9
© Getty Images
Jun 16, 2009
Ajantha Mendis celebrates one of his three wickets
© Associated Press
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