What Happened To Ajantha Mendis?

[Pratters]

I had a huge debate a few months back when I said I didn't think much of him. He seems to have vanished from the scene now, not playing any games even in the IPL.

What has happened to Mendis? Where is he?

[Burgey]

He got shot didn't he? Might have something to do with it, from a psychological point of view.

[Pothas]

Well he is due to play for Hampshire in the county championship this season, be very interesting to see how he goes. Not sure when he will be coming over here though, guess it depends if he is in the World Twenty20 squad.

[BoyBrumby]

Feel a bit guilty bagging the bloke after Burgey's post, but do think that, rather like Iverson, once the shock of the new has worn off people are now playing him on merit rather than rep and he's been badly collared a couple of times. Not actually a huge turner of the ball for all his liquorice allsorts. Got Sehwaged in the second test, but suppose that's an occupational hazard for any slow bowler.

[Pothas]

I am not willing to write him off completely just yet, he was just looked massively lacking in conifdence the last time I saw him and seemed to have lost his accuracy, there is nothing to say that they cannot return, one does not need to be a massive spinner of the ball to be succesfull so I hope a good spell with Hampshire will help him get his confidence back.

[GingerFurball]

Originally Posted by Burgey

He got shot didn't he? Might have something to do with it, from a psychological point of view.

That doesn't really explain his brilliance at the world T20 in summer though.

[Burgey]

No it doesn't mate, but if you truly could explain what goes on through someone's head after something like that, then i reckon you'd be a gazillionaire.

Just throwing it out there as a possible contributor to the whole thing. May well not be and I hope for the kid's sake it isn't.

Novelty factor wearing off also a contributor as Brumbers said.

[GingerFurball]

Originally Posted by Burgey

No it doesn't mate, but if you truly could explain what goes on through someone's head after something like that, then i reckon you'd be a gazillionaire.

Just throwing it out there as a possible contributor to the whole thing. May well not be and I hope for the kid's sake it isn't.

Novelty factor wearing off also a contributor as Brumbers said.

I don't doubt for a second that what happened in Karachi (? Might have been Lahore) has had some sort of effect, but the problem with Mendis' decline is that while his novelty factor has worn off somewhat, his brilliance at the world T20 does kind of throw a spanner in that theory.

Tbh, I'm not sure it's the novelty factor wearing off. Up to the end of the World T20, Pakistan were the one team who had faced Mendis with any sort of ease whatsoever in any form of the game - since then Sri Lanka have played a home series vs Pakistan, and an away series against India, incidentally the 78th series played been the countries in the last 5 years.

In his international career, Mendis has played 60 games (10 Tests, 38 ODIs and 12 T20Is). A break down of his career by opposition is as follows:

Australia: 1 T20I
Bangladesh: 1 Test, 4 ODIs
Canada: 1 T20I
England: 1 ODI
India: 4 Tests, 14 ODIs
Ireland: 1 T20I
New Zealand: 1 Test, 2 ODIs, 3 T20Is
Pakistan: 4 Tests, 6 ODIs, 3 T20Is
South Africa: 1 ODI
UAE: 1 ODI
West Indies: 3 ODIs, 2 T20Is
Zimbabwe: 6 ODIs, 1 T20I

31 of his 60 games have come against either India or Pakistan, he's barely encountered any of the non-subcontinental sides. I'll wait until there's a greater spread of matches before judging him.

[Uppercut]

I don't think Mendis's problem is that he's been figured out. It's that he's not bowling well anymore. More specifically, he isn't getting any turn, making all of his variations somewhat useless. If you watch a few clips of him bowling to India in his debut series, then compare with clips of him bowling more recently, the difference isn't that batsmen now know which way the ball's going to turn, it's that it's no longer turning at all.

[Teja.]

Being unsuccessful against India for a series(after being hugely successful in another) does not necessarily mean being found out. I'll wait till he plays a team like NZ/Eng/WI and then judge him.

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by Uppercut

I don't think Mendis's problem is that he's been figured out. It's that he's not bowling well anymore. More specifically, he isn't getting any turn, making all of his variations somewhat useless. If you watch a few clips of him bowling to India in his debut series, then compare with clips of him bowling more recently, the difference isn't that batsmen now know which way the ball's going to turn, it's that it's no longer turning at all.

Yeah, completely agree. People were always going to say he had been "figured out" if he had a bad patch, but every time I've seen him bowl lately he's been absolutely rubbish - it's not that the batsmen are picking him as such, but that he's bowling flat long hops and half vollies that don't turn. He might have tried to change his game after being 'worked out' a little bit I suppose, but I think he'll be back if he get his act together and find the form he showed early on.

[Himannv]

Never a great turner of the ball and his variations lack effect unless he has some sort of assistance from the pitch. People who say batsmen have more or less figured him out are spot on by my reckoning. After watching enough footage and playing him for a few games, they soon figured out most of his variations and simply played him off the pitch. His confidence is shot, he relies on the pitch and everyong knows what to do when they play him. Stem to stern, his career is over.

[Xuhaib]

mystery or no mystery if he is bowling well he is good enough for int cricket ofcourse he cannot average like he did during his shock intro period but still can have decent figures provided he is bowling with control and confidance,

[Migara]

I said this a long time ago when he was wrecking Indian batting line up, that he needs a proper stock delivery. Carom ball puts so much of strain on the fingers, after few thousand deliveries it's natural to have problems with it (I have tried it with a hard ball, after few balls bloody painful middle finger is the result). He needs a proper off break. A good drfiting, dropping and gripping off break. He has to reduce bowling the carom ball.

Even in domestic circuits, better batsmen are picking him now. He tried bowling lot of off breaks against NZ last time and looked better.

I think Mendis needs a complete chage in modus operandi. He should be an off break bowler, not a carom ball bowler.

[DaRick]

Originally Posted by Migara

I said this a long time ago when he was wrecking Indian batting line up, that he needs a proper stock delivery. Carom ball puts so much of strain on the fingers, after few thousand deliveries it's natural to have problems with it (I have tried it with a hard ball, after few balls bloody painful middle finger is the result). He needs a proper off break. A good drfiting, dropping and gripping off break. He has to reduce bowling the carom ball.

Even in domestic circuits, better batsmen are picking him now. He tried bowling lot of off breaks against NZ last time and looked better.

I think Mendis needs a complete chage in modus operandi. He should be an off break bowler, not a carom ball bowler.

Bingo. Without one, you cannot really be an effective long-term Test bowler. He certainly had the potential to turn one of variations into an effective stock delivery and utilise the rest of his deliveries (like the Iverson-esque carrom ball) judiciously, but it appears that he hasn't as of yet.

Of course, the fact that he's been thoroughly erratic just compounds the problem.