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The Ajantha puzzle

Sunday seemed one of those days when the so-called great Indian batting was as dazed and confused, against Ajantha Mendis, as one would be against any of the world’s top bowlers.

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Ajantha Mendis has a rare mix of talent, guile, control and deception. His bowling was the turning point in Sri Lanka’s 100-run win over India in Sunday’s Asia Cup final, writes Mihir Vasavda

Sunday seemed one of those days when the so-called great Indian batting was as dazed and confused, against the young spinner Ajantha Mendis, as one would be against any of the world’s top bowlers.

The night undoubtedly belonged to the finger spinner, who not only made the Indian batting look rather ordinary but also managed to overshadow his illustrious teammate Muttiah Muralitharan.

And if you thought Murali’s bowling action was the most mysterious, Mendis is even more unpredictable. He holds the ball between the thumb, forefinger and the middle finger. The middle finger is bent on the side of the ball and he releases it like how a striker is flicked in carrom. Weird and difficult the delivery style may sound, but it has proved to be very effective as one by one, Indian batsmen fell like a pack of cards.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted that his side was unable to pick Mendis. And it was not only the Indians who found difficult to handle Mendis. Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene said he had been bowled a couple of times facing Mendis and that Kumar Sangakkarra spent an hour a day in the nets before the tournament keeping to Mendis, trying to pick up his variations. It’s one thing, Jayawardene said, to read him from the hand, another thing altogether to then play him off the pitch.

“It was one of those days when Mendis bowled well and it was the first time we were playing against him. He is a difficult bowler,” said Dhoni. “Most of our batsmen couldn’t pick him, we never played him before or watched him in videos and he was difficult and, frankly speaking, we never had any real reply against him,” Dhoni added.

What makes Mendis’ bowling even more special is that he bowls off-spin as his stock delivery and has few more variations in his armory — a leg spin, a top spin and a flipper. And it was Jayawardene’s plan of not playing Mendis in the super-four stage of the tournament that paid dividends. “I wasn’t really surprised. That’s the way he takes games away from the opposition,” he said about the 23-year-old spinner’s magical performance.

Former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi believes that a star was born on Sunday. “I would pay to watch him (Mendis) bowl. In today’s terms, he is a ‘rare commodity’ who would do wonders in any form of the game. He has a very clean action and is technically sound too,” he told DNA.

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