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Full name Balapuwaduge Ajantha Winslo Mendis
Born March 11, 1985, Moratuwa
Current age 23 years 210 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
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
4s
6s
Ct
St
Tests
3
3
0
19
17
6.33
33
57.57
0
0
2
0
1
0
ODIs
13
7
4
54
15*
18.00
51
105.88
0
0
6
0
1
0
First-class
22
33
0
406
37
12.30
677
59.97
0
0
39
3
10
0
List A
32
22
7
381
71*
25.40
394
96.70
0
2
36
7
5
0
Twenty20
7
6
2
15
9
3.75
21
71.42
0
0
2
0
3
0
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
3
6
979
478
26
6/117
10/209
18.38
2.92
37.6
3
2
1
ODIs
13
12
597
357
33
6/13
6/13
10.81
3.58
18.0
2
2
0
First-class
22
41
4633
2093
137
7/37
10/74
15.27
2.71
33.8
13
9
2
List A
32
29
1391
781
70
6/13
6/13
11.15
3.36
19.8
4
2
0
Twenty20
7
7
138
122
6
2/15
2/15
20.33
5.30
23.0
0
0
0
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
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
Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab at Kolkata, May 25, 2008 scorecard
Profile
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
