This is for all you cricket fans who missed having watched the mystery spinner, Ajantha Mendis!
A must watch, how he's spun the ball both ways, with a googly and a doosra to boot! The video is at the end of the article here
He was incidentally the reason why I remained awake through the whole night, excitedly watching him bowl and spin his magic web over the hapless West Indian batsmen! Slept at 4 a.m. with a feverish excitement of a 14 year old lad, who has found his first love. Okay, no gay jokes please, that was meant to be an analogy, so please be kind!
Read more about him here
Friday, April 11, 2008
Ajantha Mendis video!
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6 comments:
hes definitely good but wont say great yet..
his doosra, unlike that of murli, bhajji and to a lesser extent saqlain, is actually a conventional leg-spin ball bowled with the fingers instead of the wrist (slightly difficult to pick coz appearance of his grip coming into the run-up is tht of a off-spinner but clearly can be seen as a legspinner when he releases the ball) - hence expect him to be picked by batsmen the more they play him.
but good to see a non-conventional offie anyways !
yeah, agreed, that he will soon start getting picked. But see, in the end, it is not only about picking it, or else, Shane Warne and Murali wouldn't have been as great as they have become. I think, many batsmen world over can pick these great bowlers up, but the subtle variations of pace and spin off the wicket is what distinguishes them.
About Ajantha, it is wayy too early to be calling him great. Instead I would call him an exciting prospect, and would dearly hope to see more of him over the next few years.
About his Doosra, he not only has a Doosra, but he also has a genuine leg spinner, a genuine off-spinner, and to add to that, a googly! Now that is something of a first isn't it?
btw, did you read the article that I posted, on iSport - the link that I have posted? If not do read it! Thanks!
ya read teh article..
the good thing abt mendis is tht hes got impeccable control and is quicker thru the air even with his variations and so he doesnt have to rely on loop to trick the batsmaen (murli/bhajji/saqlain doosras are invariable flighted balls)
but its good fun to see a new guy and try to read him sitting at home :)
waaah... cric freak :)
i dont even knw who he is ;))
and i lov cric... but not into it totooomuch kinds ;))
Ive also picked up on another one he seems to utilise, find video of him clean bowling Darren Sammy of the West Indies he bowls an indrifting straight ball delivered with the googly action but without flicking out the middle finger, he bowls that one a fair bit actually and also seems to be a 2nd option in regard the action change in the googly. He gives the batsmen something else to think about when they see that change in his action. I think he is going to be a top class bowler in the near future if he has already figured out that the top class batsmen (which in my belief will be the only ones who will pick it easily, batsmen of a class nowhere near to what he has come up against in the Sri Lankan domestic league) would eventually find him out. Smart thinking and a great show of self confidence and belief in his ability .Essential attributes for any spinner according to Mr Shane Warne and he would know. And if thats the case he seems to have all the right ingredients that great spinners are made of except one. Superior accuracy ala Warne & Murali. But we cant all be allowed to throw the ball and Warney cant be compared to anyone, he is a true cricket genius. But Mendis has HUGE potential and i cant wait to see him tour Australia
and i also disagree with the anonymous comment on April 12
his grip is not that of an offspinner to begin with, it is more like a medium pacer bowling with all fingers on the ball, which i believe is the essential element that allows him to mix it up so much without a glaring change of action, allied with the Symonds/Gooch medium pace run-up, would make him a massively difficult bowler to face up to for the first time even if your name is Sachin Tendulkar
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