Ajantha Mendis

[Ponting_14]

Can someone please enlighten me on this new, err, phenomena? The hype is getting nuts from what I've heard. Is he the new Muralitharan or what like? Should I jump on the bandwagon now or wait a little longer?

 

[Pak_cricketer]

Can someone please enlighten me on this new, err, phenomena? The hype is getting nuts from what I've heard. Is he the new Muralitharan or what like? Should I jump on the bandwagon now or wait a little longer?

He's one of a kind. He runs in like a medium pacer (just a hell of a lot shorter run up) and then bowls almost everything. He's hard to pick because his action hardly changes.

 

[shravi]

He has 6 different deliveries. He only bowls 4 of them in international matches because he is still fine tuning the other 2 before they are ready to use on the big stage. He has all the talent in the world to make it big, but I'd still give it some time before I jumped on the bandwagon.

 

[Ponting_14]

He's one of a kind. He runs in like a medium pacer (just a hell of a lot shorter run up) and then bowls almost everything. He's hard to pick because his action hardly changes.

I?m watching youtube videos of him now. The video quality is poor, so I?m not quite sure what to make of him. I hear he's got it all in his arsenal.

 

[Cricketman]

He's a genius.
The thing is, he bowls everything differently. And he has it all - a googly, a flipper, a doosra, an off break, cutters, swing, you name it. He also has a toe crushing yorker, I believe.
I wrote an article on him a while back - http://www.planetcricket.org/forums/showthread.php?t=42124 if you are interested.

 

[Ponting_14]

He's a genius.

I wrote an article on him a while back - http://www.planetcricket.org/forums/showthread.php?t=42124 if you are interested.

Looks like I?m late to the party, eh?

 

[Cricketman]

Yeah. Debuted vs the Windies and was fantastic, never seen anything like him before. If you Youtube the dismissal of Yuvraj in the final you'll know what we're talking about. The ball cut him in half!

 

[Ponting_14]

Yeah. Debuted vs the Windies and was fantastic, never seen anything like him before. If you Youtube the dismissal of Yuvraj in the final you'll know what we're talking about. The ball cut him in half!

Yeah, I just watched the highlights of it. It was, err, sexy.

Why didn?t anyone tell me more about him till now? :laugh

We don?t get much subcontinent cricket over here, so I had no idea about him. Heard a bit here and there, but that's all. I blame Sid for not informing me sooner. Nice one, Sid.

 

[sohum]

Mendis is crazy. I certainly hope the Indian batsmen figure him out quickly or we'll be looking at a 2-0 defeat in Sri Lanka.

 

[Gilly Fan]

So, what type of spinner is he? He seems to be able to bowl everything.

 

[shravi]

So, what type of spinner is he? He seems to be able to bowl everything.

Read this.

 

[aussie1st]

SL are so lucky, from Murali to someone that is even trickier to read. Heard alot about him still haven't seen him in action but can't wait. Surprised we haven't seen more of him around, I could basically bowl everything just it was easy to pick.

 

[Ponting_14]

So, what type of spinner is he? He seems to be able to bowl everything.

Go and have a look at page 77 of the Herald Sun today.

 

[m_vaughan]

He is new, which is why he is far more dangerous now. I am sure with time, this hype will die down. He is smart though and has the Warne-like ability to out-think the batsman.

But I think the much claimed comment about Indians being excellent players of spin is no longer valid. Those players have gone for One Day cricket atleast and the youngsters have still a lot to learn before they can be considered good players of spin again. Yuvraj Singh has always been poor against spin from what I've seen. I wouldnt play him in test matches in the subcontinent against quality spin opposition.

m_vaughan added 3 Minutes and 39 Seconds later...

So, what type of spinner is he? He seems to be able to bowl everything.

I dont know what everything is. He is supposedly an offspinner, although in the match vs India, he hardly bowled them. He has the one that holds it line, one that pitches and bounces and the one that spins the other way. Most wickets he got was off the third one wherein the ball pitches and bounces.

 

[angryangy]

Iverson was able to produce variation with his thumb position, thus the batsman had to look very closely to be able to pick the delivery.