Ajantha Mendis and how to play him

[flamy]

Murali is easier than Mendis.

[flamy]

He wasn't in the original squad. He was a replacement for someone for the last two games.

[Guest Hiten.]

IPL is boolsheet, no ?

[Yuvraj4Captaincy]

PS: pls. dont merge - we dont have IPL forum anymore. i think at the rate of merging, this may get merged with wimbledon thread :hmpf:

:hysterical::hysterical::haha::haha:

[Yuvraj4Captaincy]

A star like mendis is not born everyday.. A legend in making. Murli seem like a kid in front of him.

[Fontaine]

Practice with video feedback. That's all it takes. They'll have to learn how to pick him and all it takes is repeated film study and more matches against him.

[umpire]

there was time when we did not pick Saqlain Mushtaq. His biggest asset is accuracy. He soon will be picked by everyone. He is still very new.

[Brainfade]

Practice with video feedback. That's all it takes. They'll have to learn how to pick him and all it takes is repeated film study and more matches against him.

Exactly. I feel like the Indian batsmen were not prepared well before the finals. There seemed to be a sense of complacency; a "how good can he really be?," nonchalance. The blame for this lies squarely with the coaching staff - their job is to parse existing film and make the batsmen watch it repeatedly the night before. They should have also ingrained in the batsmen that it is important to attack Mendis and not let him get in rhythm, but that it is vital to be a bit patient. They failed on both counts. Confidence-building, man-management skills, a positive attitude and posturing skills are all important, but the importance of making technical adjustments seems to have been forgotten in the age of "Play your natural game" cricket. Oh well ... lesson learned the hard way. Am sure this team will do a lot better against the fellow in the future. PS: Raina's desperate attempt at hitting out reminded me of myself when I first drove on the interstates in the US. I was flanked by 2 huge-***** trucks and was staring at another one in front of me, as my rental Dodge Neon was shuddering in the little dark hole. In desperation, I floored the gas pedal, and squeezed between the front of one truck and the tail of the other, narrowly missing being thrown into the median upside down. Raina's desperation seemed similar.

[Guest dada_rocks]

he bowls proper leg-break.. most deadly is doosara which is being bowled through flick of middle finger with everything else remaining the same.. See they will find the subtle difference in terms of his position in crease his arms and even finger pretty soon..... Siddhu was baffled against Saqlain gave Mohinder MAarnath a call and he said just watch hsi feet when he bowls doosara he comes slightly closer to stumps .. that's it Saqlain got bar-becued in next game by siddhu

[The Outsider]

^Dhoni said in an interview that they had watched lots of videos of him but actually playing him in the middle turned out to be a completely different propsition, so not sure if it was only lack of preparation. A lot of it was also panic as I saw the WI batsmen play the guy better in the recent series. BTW, nice analogy, Cricaddict. Lucky for you that you got just enough bat on the ball.:D

[Feed]

Playing across the line to Mendis proved to be fatal : Anil Kumble India's top order made runs in the tournament and going by the way they played Mendis, it's obviously not easy to pick him, writes Anil Kumble. More... Playing across the line to Mendis proved to be fatal Anil Kumble Hindustan Times July 08, 2008 First Published: 00:41 IST(8/7/2008) Last Updated: 11:41 IST(8/7/2008) It was disappointing to see India go down in the final after playing so well throughout. But if I have to draw some consolation, it is the performance of Ajantha Mendis, a fellow spinner, and all credit to him for the way he bowled. On flat pitches, bowlers have had a tough time and for someone to run through a batting line-up was a big achievement. India's top order made runs in the tournament and going by the way they played Mendis, it's obviously not easy to pick him. When you're struggling to pick a bowler out of his hand, the usual thing is to play him off the wicket. What was surprising was that many Indian batsmen did not pick his length early enough. The safest option, when you're not quite sure which way the ball will turn, is to play straight and some of our batsmen made the mistake of playing across the line and paid the price. Mendis uses a grip that you see quite often in tennis ball cricket, but to master this with a cricket ball takes some doing and he's obviously managed that. He bowled wicket-to-wicket and employed subtle variations. It's not that he spun the ball appreciably but he showed that when you are accurate, all it takes is small movement to beat the stroke. With India going to Sri Lanka next for a full series, we need to watch Mendis. But Test cricket is a different ball game as batsmen have more time to assess a bowler and come up with a method to tackle him. In limited-overs cricket, you're always looking to score and this can induce the mistake. Taking 6 for 13 in a final is a great spell, but the match was not about Mendis alone. When India picked up Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene cheaply they had made the ideal start but Sanath Jayasuriya showed just how big a part he can play. India bowled well but Jayasuriya ensured that even the early breakthroughs did not hamper their progress. He's the kind of batsman who can hit boundaries even in the middle overs, when the bowlers are trying to keep things a bit quiet, and this made a difference. I thought Ishant Sharma bowled really well up front and we have been talking about how important it is to do damage with the new ball. But India faltered in that they did not back up this start in the middle overs. They needed to keep getting wickets and ensure the pressure was on Sri Lanka. Instead, partnerships developed and Tillakaratne Dilshan, although playing second fiddle, made an important contribution. Sri Lanka might have only reached 273, but in a final that's like scoring 300. There's always pressure on the team batting second, once the runs are on the board, and that makes totals look that extra bit bigger. All credit to Sri Lanka but I feel for the Indian team. When you've done all the hard work, you want to sign off on a high note, but this time around it just wasn't to be.

[DomainK]

He would know it. His captaincy in tests would be very effective against the likes of Mendis. Then masters like Sachin, dada, Dravid and Laxman will be too good for Mendis and Murali.

[flamy]

Man, I have always been impressed by Anil Kumble's clear thoughts. Wish he became captain a little earlier and that now he continues for a little longer. Also, Mendis has proved his point of not having to turn the ball much to be a good bowler. I'm sure there is some guilty part of him enjoying that, haha :D

[Fontaine]

Man, I have always been impressed by Anil Kumble's clear thoughts. Wish he became captain a little earlier and that now he continues for a little longer. Also, Mendis has proved his point of not having to turn the ball much to be a good bowler. I'm sure there is some guilty part of him enjoying that, haha :D

He's a gimmick, a sideshow. Once good batsmen see him bowling and get more experience and can pick him, then his lack of pace/turn is going to get him slaughtered and rendered useless. He'll still be able to pick up quick wickets from tail enders and other useless batsmen but that's no different than any other good bowler.

[flamy]

He's a gimmick, a sideshow. Once good batsmen see him bowling and get more experience and can pick him, then his lack of pace/turn is going to get him slaughtered and rendered useless. He'll still be able to pick up quick wickets from tail enders and other useless batsmen but that's no different than any other good bowler.

Actually he doesn't just change the type of delivery, he changes the pace too. And under lights and with some dew, the ball also skids on. That's why he was so menacing.

[Cricketics]

Great to see Kumble speaking up about how INdia tackled that rookie spinner of lanka. Bowler knows a lot about how to play a certain delivery, and guy like Kumble who has played over 15 years of Int'l Cricket would know what he is talking about.

[sharma]

i really dont ever see a spinner dominating the fab4 over a test series, no matter how good he is.

[THX_1138]

i really dont ever see a spinner dominating the fab4 over a test series' date=' no matter how good he is.[/quote'] yeah... i think its a feat managed only by the trio of lee-mcgrath-bucknor...

[DomainK]

yeah... i think its a feat managed only by the trio of lee-mcgrath-bucknor...

:haha::haha::haha::haha::haha::haha::haha::haha: well said.:two_thumbs_up:

[silv3rado]

I always thought that playing spinners across the line was the best option as the angled bat offers more area of the willow to hit. Something like a 45 degree angle is best suited no?