[Video] Mendis Magic takes the cricket world by storm

courtesy CricketCrowd

Posted by Hilal


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[Video] Ajantha Mendis | This is Cricket

Download Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/157294498/Ajantha_Mendis_This_is_Cricket.divx

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by Hilal


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[Video] T20 Canada 2008 - final - Sri Lanka V Pakistan

1st Session



2nd Session


Presentation Ceremony


T20I no. 76
T20 Canada - final
Pakistan v Sri Lanka
2008/09 season
Played at Maple Leaf North-West Ground, King City
(neutral venue), on 13 October 2008 (20-over match)
Result Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets (with 6 balls remaining)

by Hilal


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[Video] Mendis Magic in Canada 2008

Mendis is now the highest wicket taker in the ongoing Al Barakah Canada 20/20 Cricket Series.

Most wickets

T20 Canada, 2008/09

Player	Mat	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	BBI	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5
BAW Mendis (SL)	2	8.0	1	32	8	4/15	4.00	4.00	6.0	2	0
Umar Gul (Pak)	3	11.0	0	39	6	4/13	6.50	3.54	11.0	1	0
HS Baidwan (Can)	3	11.0	0	86	6	3/15	14.33	7.81	11.0	0	0
Fawad Alam (Pak)	2	4.0	0	20	4	3/7	5.00	5.00	6.0	0	0
MF Maharoof (SL)	2	8.0	0	41	4	2/18	10.25	5.12	12.0	0	0

By Hilal


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[Video] T20 Canada - 1st match Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe

Scorecard

T20I no. 69
T20 Canada - 1st match
Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe
2008/09 season
Played at Maple Leaf North-West Ground, King City
(neutral venue), on 10 October 2008 (20-over match)
Result Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets (with 6 balls remaining)













Courtesy Apni Community


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Ajantha's 'Carrom Ball' may find a place in the Collins dictionary

Sri Lanka's 23-year-old right arm off-break and leg-break spin bowler Ajantha Mendis' Carrom Ball delivery which has mesmerised the batsmen may find a place in the English dictionary, writes Bipin Dani for CricketNext.

"While I cannot say without further research in our databases if the word (Carrom Ball) has attained sufficient frequency in the language to merit a place in the actual A-Z text, a look at the frequency in Google alone seems to indicate that the word has already achieved some currency, so the chances are quite good. It now remains to be seen whether it has longevity as well as originality," - Says Cormac McKeown, the Senior Editor of Collins Dictionary.

Posted by Hilal


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[Video] The Googly | Ajantha Mendis Vs Avishka Gunawardene 2007

Action from the 2007 SLT inter-provincial tournament.


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[Video] Ajantha Mendis 4/10 Vs India, 5th ODI 2008

There were numerous reports from the Indian press claiming the Indian batsman had unraveled the mystery of Mendis.

This video features action from the 5Th and final ODI from the IDEA Cup series. This was Yuvraj Singh's chance to prove that Mendis was not on top of him, to prove that Dhoni and Raina's cautious batting at the top didnt just mean caution but a total dominance of Mendis, it was not to be. Mendi's castled Yuvraj off his first ball and has claimed Yuvraj's wicket 4 times in all!

By Hilal

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Mendis keeps things simple

He has easily been his country’s biggest revelation since Muttiah Muralitharan. But despite the impact 23-year-old Ajantha Mendis has had on the cricketing world in recent months, the young Sri Lankan spinner insisted life is as simple as it was before his arrival on the international stage, writes Rohan Alvares of the Dubai publication the Express.

"Nothing has changed. I’m still the same person and I want to continue to be who I was before," said Mendis.

Posted by Hilal


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[Video] ICC Awards 2008

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Posted by Hilal
Courtesy Apni Community


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Ajantha Mendis is ICC emerging player of the year 2008

by Hilal

Ajantha Mendis won the ICC emerging player of the year award. An amazing feat for a man who made his debut into international cricket exactly five months to the day.

Mendis and his unique art of spin bowling has bagged 26 wickets at an average of an astonishing 18.38 apiece in just three Tests. Mendis has also bagged 33 ODI wickets in just 13 matches at an average of 10.81.

"I am delighted to win the award."

"It is an honour to play for Sri Lanka and I hope to continue playing for my country for a long time to come," said Mendis speaking to the press at the ceremony.

The other nominees for the award were Stuart Broad of England, Morne Morkel from South Africa and India's Ishant Sharma.

Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene accepted the Spirit of Cricket award on behalf of team Sri Lanka for the second year running. The spirit of Cricket award is awarded to the team who has best conducted it's self on the field according to the ICC elite panels of umpires and match referees.

[Video] ICC Spirit of Cricket Award | Sri Lanka | 2007

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[Video] The Googly | Ajantha Mendis Vs Sachin Tendulkar 2008

By Hilal

"It will be dream come true for me to get the wicket of Tendulkar, especially when he is on the threshold of surpassing Brian Lara's world record of highest Test runs," - Ajantha Mendis.

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[Video] "Mendis is something special" - Murali

By Hilal



Tony Greig interviewed Muttiah Muralitharan for Ten sports during the recently concluded test series between India and Sri Lanka.

TG: Nothing has changed you got a smile on your face and now a bigger smile, you have someone at the other end bowling wonderfully well in Mendis, what a partner to have?

MM: Yeah definitely because I was lacking partners as a spinner, Vaas was helping for a long time but Mendis is something special. He has his mystery balls and people can't read him - so he gets a lot of wickets. It helps me and makes my job easier. I don't have to bowl forty or fifty overs, I can now bowl twenty three overs he can bowl thirty and get wickets. It will push my career on a little bit longer.

TG: The Indian batsman have struggled and you mentioned the mystery associated with Mendis - when the likes of Tendulkar and Ganguly get over the problem associated with the mystery aspect will he still be a good bowler?

Watch the video for Murali's response..


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Don’t worry; I won’t lose my head - Ajantha Mendis

"Talented batsmen learn quickly and correct their mistakes. I too should improve and find ways to beat them." - Mendis


Ranjan Paranavithana of Lakbima recently caught up with Ajantha Mendis.

In his interview he questions Mendis' mentality with this sudden rise to fame, the challenges he faced bowling to Dhoni & Company and his failures with the bat.

LN: What do you think about your journey in international cricket so far?

AM: I’m really happy. I didn’t expect it to be so successful. But I should say this; I’ve a long way to go.

LN: Players like MS Dhoni seems to have come to grips with your bowling. Don’t you agree?

AM: It should be like that. Talented batsmen learn quickly and correct their mistakes. I too should improve and find ways to beat them. But you can’t say that the Indian batsmen were their usual selves. They were very cautious.

LN: Some say you climbed up so quickly and that can spoil you. What do you think?

AM: I like to make this request to all including the media: please don’t expect too much from me. It can put me under immense pressure. I’m still new to this field. Don’t worry. I know how to use my head. I don’t run after money. My first place is for cricket. I’ll get everything if only I play well.

LN: Is it true that some English counties showed interest in you?

AM: Yes, Sussex, Surrey and Kent were interested in me. But I thought I should spend that month or so here and rest. A also need to work on my fitness.

LN: You have been short-listed for the emerging player’s award at the forthcoming ICC awards ceremony. How do you feel?

AM: I’ll be really happy if such an award come my way so soon.

LN: We know that you are a good batsman when it comes to inter-club tournaments. But you have failed to do much in international matches?

AM: Yes. I’ve failed with the bat. Ten or fifteen runs with the bat may come handy for your team. I’m working on my batting right now.

Posted by Hilal


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The most feared Sri lankan bowler

Posted by Hilal

It is not everyday that Sri Lankan Cricket gets a mention in the Cayman Island press but Mystery Spinner AJantha Mendis seems to have the whole world talking.

In a column titled 'On The Cricket Pitch' Phillip Hackett discusses the magic of Mendis. Click here to read it in full.

While the 23-year-old Mendis is yet to stand the Test of time, the manner in which he has taken the cricket world by storm is nothing short of amazing. Playing alongside the great Muralitharan he has made the veteran off spinner almost seem ordinary by comparison.

The pair combined for 28 wickets in the Asia Cup recently, 17 of them to Mendis. His strike rate (balls per wicket) at 14.8 was almost twice as impressive as Murali’s 26.1.

It was Mendis who bowled the Sri Lankans to victory in the final against India [video], with figures of six for 13 off eight overs. If his performance in ODIs didn’t provide enough evidence of his class, he went on to torment India in the three Test series with a record-breaking 26 wickets.

Muralitharan bowled five overs fewer and the bowling partners produced almost identical economy rates (Mendis 2.92, Murali 2.90) but Mendis was comfortably ahead in strike rate (37.6 to Murali’s 45.9) and bowling average (18.38 to Murali’s 22.23).

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[Video] 'We don't need to hide Mendis' - Mahela Jayawardena

Posted by Hilal

Himanshu Singhal spoke to Mahela Jayawardena recently for CNN-IBN. The video of the interview is located in two parts - part 1 can be found here & part 2 of the interview here.

CricketNext features the transcript of the interview in an article titled 'We don't need to hide Mendis' below is a few excerpts.

Himanshu Singhal: Ajantha Mendis is a huge discovery for the Sri Lankan team. What are the things that you will keep in mind as a captain when you handle Mendis, especially about over-exposure.

Mahela Jayawardne: Nothing like that. What you need to realise is that Murali has been there for us more than 15 years and we haven't tried to control Murali. We have just managed Murali and that's about it.

And the same will be done with Mendis depending on the number of overs he bowls. He is still young and we will just like to carry him through injury free.

When it comes to exposure, we are really not thinking about it. He has got his opportunity and we will play each and every game, touch wood, unless he is injured. There is nothing to hide.

He will be a good challenge for the opposition and it will be a good challenge for Mendis as well. It's just the start for him. He can improve and learn from each and every game he plays. It's great he has so many variations and by each time, he will get to learn how to use those variations.

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Spin kills

"I had followed India's Test fortunes for 45 years, and never once in that time had I seen the Indian batsmen devastated by a slow bowler through a whole series," writes Mukul Kesavan for Cricinfo.

So the Asia Cup defeat didn't worry me because the Fabulous Four - Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman and Ganguly, arguably the best players of spin bowling in the world over long and distinguished careers, hadn't figured in that team. I wasn't complacent, but it was reasonable to believe that they would figure Mendis out. The last freak spinner they had played, Paul Adams, hadn't puzzled them for a minute. While Mendis was clearly the better bowler, given his limited-overs performance and Bishan Bedi's testimonial, how dangerous could a Test debutant be, given the collective experience of the best batting line-up?

Very dangerous. It was Dravid's dismissal in the first Test that set the alarms off. Nobody in the world plays later off the back foot than Dravid did. The sight of him, crease-bound, stabbing down on Mendis down a middle-stump line, missing by a mile and the ball taking the off bail was a more significant moment in the history of Test cricket than the much-celebrated ball, which Warne ripped across Mike Gatting to bowl him. For two reasons: Dravid is by some distance the better batsman, and offspinners aren't meant to bowl fast legbreaks.

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What's a Carrom Ball?

by Hilal

Ajantha's away spinning delivery to the right handed batsman is released with a Carrom like flick of the middle and index fingers, hence the term Carrom Ball.

Understanding the Carrom Ball

Carrom is a table-top game and the goal is similar to pool. The video here shows the use of the middle and index finger in Carrom.

Why is it hard to pick?



As opposed to the conventional spin bowler Ajantha releases the ball at a much quicker speed and as a result the batsman has little or no time to make an adjustment off the wicket.

The grip is similar to an off spin delivery which would turn into the right handed batsman but in this case the middle finger flicks the ball in the opposite direction at the point of release.

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Terry Jenner not impressed with Mendis

Warne's mentor and coach Terry Jenner is clearly not impressed by Ajantha Mendis. In an article titled 'Young spinners lack magic like Warne, Kumble' in the ExpressIndia - He goes on to state that Mendis lacks a stock ball and the new breed of spinners including Mendis and Panesar are not in the same league as Warne and Kumble.

If anyone recalls Jenner was the bloke trying to sling mud at Murali when he was on the verge of breaking Warne's record. It appears that with such blind devotion to Warne he seems to be blinded by the brilliance of Mendis and it also appears he is trying incredibly hard to ensure people don't forget who Shane Warne is, since all the attention is on Murali and Mendis of late.



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Mendis mystery overhyped says Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev claims Mendis is yet to prove his credentials and the media has "highlighted him a bit too prominently".

Below are a few excerpts from the article, which can be found in full here.

"No doubt that Mendis' performance in the on-going India-Sri Lanka series is very good but media has highlighted him a bit too prominently. It is too early to say if he will continue to perform like this for long,"

"So far Mendis has done extraordinary well and launched his cricket carrier in a marvelous way, but Indian batsmen are capable enough to tackle his bowling, he added."

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