Ajantha Mendis: Can this mystery ever be solved?

[pup11]

Ok Mendis has burst onto the scene like no other bowler has in recent tine, he is the middle-finger assassin, the mystery bowler, call him whatever you would like, but the question is that can Mendis be decoded, he has made legendary Indian batsmen look like schoolboys in-front of him, if he would have done this once one could have said it was a fluke or he just got lucky, but since the Asia cup final to the current ongoing 3rd test between India and Sri lanka, he has bamboozaled one Indian batsmen after the other with amazing consistency, the surprising thing is that the Indian batsmen are bred on spin friendly tracks, playing spin bowling of all kind, agreed they would have hardly come across a bowler like Mendis but still, with so much technology at disposal one would have expected the Indian batsmen to study, Mendis's action and come up with some plan or ploy to counter him, but Mendis just seems to be getting better with each outing.
So do you guys think other teams would play him any better, or is Mendis just close to being an unreadable bowler.

 

[Jakester1288]

In my opinion they will work him out eventually, but it will take hours of watching his action, then hours of batting against him to learn to pick it. I would hate to be an international batsmen on the world scene with him bowling at you in conjunction with Muralidaran.

 

[SJS]

Ever heard of Johnny Gleeson and Jack Iverson ?

 

[gettingbetter]

I've read a lot about this 'batsmen will pick him out' talk, but for someone as talented as he is, why can't we look at this in a glass is half full manner and say that as he gains more experience, he will learn new tricks?

 

[Ikki]

I think the Indians are all over the place. They seem to be doing much better against Murali but haven't deciphered Mendis. I would be interested to see how the Aussies go against him. They are more plan-orientated when there is a very big threat in the opposition.

 

[Flem274*]

He's a chucker.

Kidding, kidding..

I think it will pan out like Murali: Batsmen will find effective ways to blunt him eventually, but he seems too much of a class act not to always be a huge threat.

 

[Athlai]

He's a chucker.

Kidding, kidding..

I think it will pan out like Murali: Batsmen will find effective ways to blunt him eventually, but he seems too much of a class act not to always be a huge threat.

That seems like the opposite of how Murali's career has gone mate.

 

[Flem274*]

That seems like the opposite of how Murali's career has gone mate.

Was meaning when Murali gets good, owns everyone, evryone cries, evryone tries to think of plans against him, some work some don't. Despite the likes of Fleming using the kick the living **** out of it technique (amongst other plans) Murali still owns many batsmen.

Yeah, thats the messy gist of it.

 

[Precambrian]

Demystifying Ajanta figures

It's not that Ajantha has mesmerised every one of the Indian batsmen. While Ajantha has had the phone numbers of Dravid and Laxman, others like Tendulkar and Sehwag have played him well. And considering the poor form Tendulkar has been this series so far, his performance against Mendis has been exceptional. Below are the figures. And not how his overall average per wicket goes up against the top 6. He has dismissed only Gambhir, Dravid and Laxman so far.

[B]Player	    Runs	Balls	Dismissals	 Per Dismissal 	 S/R [/B]
					
Gambhir	      80	150	3	 26.67 	                53.33 
Sehwag	      77	84	Nil		                    91.67 
Dravid	      34	78	3	 11.33 	                   43.59 
Tendulkar     52	57	Nil		                    91.23 
Ganguly	      19	66	Nil		                    28.79 
Laxman	      60	108	5	 12.00 	                55.56 

[B]TOTAL	     322	543	11	 29.27 	          59.30 [/B]

 

[Spinksy]

Dravid 34 78 3 11.33 43.59
Laxman 60 108 5 12.00 55.56

Seems those two have large problems against him.

 

[Precambrian]

I think had Tendulkar went on and posted some big scores in this series, the story would have been different really.

Another point of note is that while his 11 top order wickets have come at an indifferent 30 per piece, Mendis' 12 lower order wickets have come at a very cheap price of 6.25 per wicket so far. So that's something to be read into before going overboard hailing him as the next spin king and the unreadable.

 

[Athlai]

He''s barely bowled ten overs to the others, bit rough to dissect them too far. Though not at all surprised by Tendulkar doing well, regardless of form he's a very talented and smart player. Sehwag's figures are helped by his fantastic knock and otherwise hasn't faced Mendis all that much.

 

[Athlai]

I think had Tendulkar went on and posted some big scores in this series, the story would have been different really.

Another point of note is that while his 11 top order wickets have come at an indifferent 30 per piece, Mendis' 12 lower order wickets have come at a very cheap price of 6.25 per wicket so far. So that's something to be read into before going overboard hailing him as the next spin king and the unreadable.

If you differ top order and lower order wickets from most players you'll find similar results. He's a highly exciting prospect but certainly any spectator worth their salt isn't hailing him as the next spin king.

You'll find that as soon as he fails the tides will turn on our young superstar. Thats the way it is unfortunately.

 

[Precambrian]

And comparing the performance of Mendis vis-avis Murali against top-6, while Mendis has taken just a wicket more, it's Murali who'e done better in terms of eco. rate, and averages.

[B]Player	    Runs	Balls	Dismissals	 Per Dismissal 	 S/R [/B]
					
Gambhir	      50	115	2	 25.00 	 43.48 
Sehwag	      74	102	1	 74.00 	 72.55 
Dravid	      19	55	1	 19.00 	 34.55 
Tendulkar     20	45	2	 10.00 	 44.44 
Ganguly	      43	80	4	 10.75 	 53.75 
Laxman	      60	114	Nil	 NA 	 52.63 
					
[B]TOTAL	     266	511	10	 26.60 	 52.05 [/B]

 

[Ikki]

How are you calculating this per dismissal unless you are counting the exact balls each bowler bowled to each batsman? You are calculating based on the score the batsman was when their wicket was taken, correct?

 

[Top_Cat]

And comparing the performance of Mendis vis-avis Murali against top-6, while Mendis has taken just a wicket more, it's Murali who'e done better in terms of eco. rate, and averages.

[B]Player	    Runs	Balls	Dismissals	 Per Dismissal 	 S/R [/B]
					
Gambhir	      50	115	2	 25.00 	 43.48 
Sehwag	      74	102	1	 74.00 	 72.55 
Dravid	      19	55	1	 19.00 	 34.55 
Tendulkar     20	45	2	 10.00 	 44.44 
Ganguly	      43	80	4	 10.75 	 53.75 
Laxman	      60	114	Nil	 NA 	 52.63 
					
[B]TOTAL	     266	511	10	 26.60 	 52.05 [/B]

Yeah but considering their respective levels of achievement and experience, you would hope that was the case, that Murali is the go-to guy and Mendis cleans up the rest. Let's not forget it's his first series so to be taking poles at all is better than people were expecting from him. Murali got spanked early on so Mendis, considering the sheer experience and talent in the opposition, I don't he'll be too fussed that he's taking more tail-end poles than Murali.

I think most good judges are reserving judgement. However, they also acknowledge that he's done far better than some of the best bowlers in history in their first series and that the signs are good. He could have been collared by this Indian line-up but he hasn't and even the guys doing well against him are treating him with some respect. That's an achievement in and of itself and he doesn't seem overawed by this Test cricket lark at all.

 

[Precambrian]

How are you calculating this per dismissal unless you are counting the exact balls each bowler bowled to each batsman? You are calculating based on the score the batsman was when their wicket was taken, correct?

Am in fact counting the exact no. of balls each bowler to each batsman. And then dividing by dismissals.

 

[Precambrian]

Yeah but considering their respective levels of achievement and experience, you would hope that was the case, that Murali is the go-to guy and Mendis cleans up the rest. Let's not forget it's his first series so to be taking poles at all is better than people were expecting from him. Murali got spanked early on so Mendis, considering the sheer experience and talent in the opposition, I don't he'll be too fussed that he's taking more tail-end poles than Murali.

I think most good judges are reserving judgement. However, they also acknowledge that he's done far better than some of the best bowlers in history in their first series and that the signs are good. He could have been collared by this Indian line-up but he hasn't and even the guys doing well against him are treating him with some respect. That's an achievement in and of itself and he doesn't seem overawed by this Test cricket lark at all.

Story so far in this series is that Mendis has outbowled Murali and has been pressed into the attack earlier than Murali. So he's used as the primary weapon than Murali. But I think as Sehwag and Tendulkar showed aggression is the best weapon against this guy.

 

[Xuhaib]

He''s barely bowled ten overs to the others, bit rough to dissect them too far. Though not at all surprised by Tendulkar doing well, regardless of form he's a very talented and smart player. Sehwag's figures are helped by his fantastic knock and otherwise hasn't faced Mendis all that much.

He did get Sehwag in that marathon knock but the umpire turned it down and SL has ran out of reviews by that time.

 

[Precambrian]

Well, after how many deliveries? I think any bowler gets a shot after having bowled that many overs.