Very few Test cricketers have had the impact that Ajantha Mendis had in his debut series. Earlier this week, he announced his retirement from the game, having never fulfilled the early promise.
His numbers, particularly in white ball cricket, remain impressive though. When he arrived at the international scene, 11 years ago, the batsmen had little clue how to tackle him.
Mendis was capable of bowling a mixture of off-breaks, leg-breaks, googlies but his special delivery, the ‘carrom ball’, fetched him loads of wickets.
Read: The forgotten warrior Ajantha Mendis
The name ‘carrom ball’ was coined by a Sri Lankan lawyer living in Canada – Mahendra Mapagunaratne. It is a ball delivered by flicking the thumb and the middle finger. Pitched outside the leg-stump, the ball turned away from the right-handed batsman with considerable bounce and troubled a lot of players.
Mendis rose to prominence during the Asia Cup in 2009. Playing the final against India in Lahore, he claimed six for 13 as Sri Lanka secured the trophy with a comfortable victory.
A few weeks later, India arrived in Sri Lanka for a three match Test series and Mendis was the hero again.
For the Asia Cup final, India had a formidable young team. But their famous middle order nicknamed Fab Four – Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman didn’t feature in that game. Many expected the famous four to decode Mendis as they were all superb players of spin bowling in the upcoming Test series.
Yet, Mendis prevailed. He claimed a World Record 26 wickets, breaking Sir Alec Bedser’s record for most wickets in a debut series, a record that had stood for over 50 years. The Indians had little clue how to tackle Mendis with the ‘carrom ball’ brought him unprecedented success.
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With Muttiah Muralitharan reaching the twilight of his career, local fans had reason to believe that they had found a successor for Murali. But alas, Mendis’ success, like other mystery spinners John Iverson’s and Jack Gleeson’s, was short lived.
India’s Fab Four that seemed to be have no clue playing the ‘carrom ball’ in the 2009 series returned in 2010 with a plan to tackle Mendis and they were highly successful. Mendis had owed much of his success to the tactical brilliance of Mahela Jayawardene. When he had success earlier on, Mendis had bowled without a mid-on fielder. Batsman, sensing an easy single to mid-on, had been often dismissed playing the on-drive. India arrived in 2010 determined not to play the on-drive to Mendis.
With the high risk shot taken away, Mendis was frustrated with no wickets coming his way and then the batsmen cashed in as he was getting tired.
Soon, other teams picked the trick from India and followed suit. Mendis wasn’t being effective and other spinners emerged to take his place.
There was actually not much mystery in Mendis. It was just that teams struggled to pick his ‘carrom ball’. Once they had worked it out, it was all over for him. Later on, even batsmen in domestic cricket played him without much hassle.
This is where Murali is different from everyone else. As teams started picking him, he kept on developing himself. Had Murali not bowled the doosra, he would have been a one-dimensional player. His big spinning off-breaks were a headache to batsmen but at international level, people were able to cope with it. But once Murali developed the doosra, he became unplayable. Some players picked him, most didn’t, and it was a guessing game for several years.
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Although certain players picked him, maintaining the concentration levels for a longer period of time was tough work.
Mendis didn’t have a stock ball to fall back on nor did he develop a delivery that could ask further questions from batsmen. He did make several comebacks but teams played him without much trouble as the years passed on. Him being a poor fielder didn’t help his cause either.
People hardly appreciate the service the three forces render to sports in the country. Barring rugby and cricket, the other sports in the country are a long way off from becoming professional. It is the Air Force, Navy and Army that provide athletes across all sports a platform to earn a living by showcasing their skills.
If not for the tri-forces, many sportsmen would be left high and dry. Mendis is the best example of how the forces and in his case, the Army, have nurtured talents.
Not able to break into the First Class structure, Mendis joined Army as a Gunner of the Artillery Division. His international success earned him several promotions over the years.
He may have been not able to live up to expectations, but Mendis’ impact enabled Sri Lanka to humble India on several occasions. There’s no better feeling in sport than beating the big brother.
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