Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Balapuwaduge Ajantha Winslo Mendis
Born March 11, 1985, Moratuwa
Current age 23 years 214 days
Major teams Sri Lanka, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sri Lanka Army, Wayamba
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak, Legbreak

Batting and fielding averages

Mat

Inns

Runs

Ave

100

Tests

6.33

57.57

ODIs

15*

18.00

105.88

T20Is

First-class

406

12.30

677

59.97

List A

381

71*

25.40

394

96.70

Twenty20

3.75

71.42

Bowling averages

Mat

Inns

Balls

Runs

Wkts

BBI

BBM

Ave

Econ

Tests

979

478

6/117

10/209

18.38

2.92

37.6

ODIs

597

357

6/13

10.81

3.58

18.0

T20Is

4/15

3.75

6.0

First-class

4633

2093

137

7/37

10/74

15.27

2.71

33.8

List A

1391

781

6/13

11.15

3.36

19.8

Twenty20

162

137

4/15

13.70

5.07

16.2

Career statistics

Test debut

Sri Lanka v India at Colombo (SSC), Jul 23-26, 2008 scorecard

Last Test

Sri Lanka v India at Colombo (PSS), Aug 8-11, 2008 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), Aug 29, 2008 scorecard

ODI statistics

Only T20I

Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe at King City (NW), Oct 10, 2008 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 v India at Colombo (PSS), Aug 8-11, 2008 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), Aug 29, 2008 scorecard

Twenty20 debut

Sri Lanka Army v Ragama Cricket Club at Colombo (CCC), Feb 28, 2007 scorecard

Last Twenty20

Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe at King City (NW), Oct 10, 2008 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

Sep 12, 2008

Ajantha Mendis with his Emerging Player of the Year award © AFP

Sep 12, 2008

A proud mother poses beside Ajantha Mendis © AFP

Sep 10, 2008

Ajantha Mendis with the Emerging Player of the Year trophy © Getty Images

View the full list of 59 related images