Mendis eats Murali's lunch

[Bumper]

I cant see too many times in his career, Murali in Lanka, returning with 2 fer in an inns & 4 fers in a Test match, when the opponents have been bowled out for 250ish totals. When Warne and Murali are compared, people quote that Murali is a lone warrior, whereas Warne has the help of quality bowlers. But is this really an advantage for Warney ? May be not. When left on his own, Murali was far more successful as a bowler than now, when he has to share his wickets with Mendis. The last two test matches, Murali had to settle for much less than usual & mostly feasted on tailenders. From now on, methinks Murali may not end up with as many 5 fers, as he used to, atleast not at home.

[Guest dada_rocks]

I cant see too many times in his career, Murali in Lanka, returning with 2 fer in an inns & 4 fers in a Test match, when the opponents have been bowled out for 250ish totals. When Warne and Murali are compared, people quote that Murali is a lone warrior, whereas Warne has the help of quality bowlers. But is this really an advantage for Warney ? May be not. When left on his own, Murali was far more successful as a bowler than now, when he has to share his wickets with Mendis. The last two test matches, Murali had to settle for much less than usual & mostly feasted on tailenders. From now on, methinks Murali may not end up with as many 5 fers, as he used to, atleast not at home.

Who eats whose lunch depnds on two things.. (1) Who people fear more: This becomes vital when the two competing wicket-taking bowlers ply in tandem from opposite ends... Here those who are more feared end up with less wicket.. Murali fits the bill here while operating with Mendis.. Warne has no such competetion since when he used to come particualry when pitch had a lot for spinners and nothing for pacer he had no competetion for wicket (2) Whether opening bowlers make inroads and pave way for first change bowlers or not: here again certain fellow called Mcgrath used to make Warne's job easy whereas Murali has not been so lucky over the years my two cents

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[Predator_05]

SL are getting closer and closer to developing a very well-rounded bowling attack. For a long time, they were effectively a 2 man bowling attack - Vaas and Muralitharan being those 2 men. Dilhara Fernando and Malinga have had their moments but they have spent a lot of time on the sidelines as well. Now in addition to those two, they have Mendis - a bowler who will take lots of wickets in his first season - and Dammika Prasad - a genuine fast bowler. Replace the aging Vaas with a fully fit Malinga or Fernando and you have a very good bowling attack. These fast bowlers can do a lot more than just take the shine off the ball - they can beat the bat and get top order wickets. This will definitely reduce the pressure on Murali and Mendis, but on the other hand, they will have fewer wickets to take. I have never seen Sri Lanka field a stronger bowling attack in it's history.

[DravidDaBest]

SL are getting closer and closer to developing a very well-rounded bowling attack. For a long time' date=' they were effectively a 2 man bowling attack - Vaas and Muralitharan being those 2 men. Dilhara Fernando and Malinga have had their moments but they have spent a lot of time on the sidelines as well. Now in addition to those two, they have Mendis - a bowler who will take lots of wickets in his first season - and Dammika Prasad - a genuine fast bowler. Replace the aging Vaas with a fully fit Malinga or Fernando and you have a very good bowling attack. These fast bowlers can do a lot more than just take the shine off the ball - they can beat the bat and get top order wickets. This will definitely reduce the pressure on Murali and Mendis, but on the other hand, they will have fewer wickets to take. I have never seen Sri Lanka field a stronger bowling attack in it's history.[/quote'] They still remain what they're few years ago. Tigers at home and lambs abroad. Except Sanga, there isn't any batsman who can score on bouncy pitches. Mahela is ultimate home track bully.

[Predator_05]

Guys like Malinga have won them test matches abroad. You can't say a good fast bowling pair won't make a difference.

[CC1981]

They still remain what they're few years ago. Tigers at home and lambs abroad. Except Sanga' date=' there isn't any batsman who can score on bouncy pitches. Mahela is ultimate home track bully.[/quote'] And that'd still be enough against most teams. SL indeed are a team on the rise- here i was thinking they are going to be fracked after the Jaya-Atapattu-Tillekratne and (near future) Vaas's retirement. But their bowling attack is shaping up excellently. Think about it this way: WI was effectively a two-man bowling attack and a very wonky batting lineup with one great bat and two atmost above average bats in the team for most of the 90s but they still managed to win regularly overseas. Yes, SL doesnt have two bowlers as effective as C&C duo but IMO their bowling attack is better for the most part. And their batting is definitely stronger, even if Mahela is a home track bully. But question still remains about the effectiveness of their fast bowlers on a consistent basis- if they can develop that ( SL is showing great potential in that field), they will defintely be a force to reckon with.

[umpire]

they definately will have good attack. At home they will kill all the opponents. when they travel abroad, they may have to drop Murli and play 3 pacers. If they want Murli to play they would want Sanga to keep wickets

[Ram]

Agree with the OP. With Mendis around, it will make be much harder for Murali to weave his magic solo, because the size of the pie is same, but the numbers players staking a claim for it has just increased. But, can Mendis continue with his prolific wicket-taking deeds? Or will be 'figured out' so as to say, or fall prey to fitness issues/lack of form etc? Any bowler who takes 700 wickets is once in a generation type. Murali is one of those.

[umpire]

Mendis will not doubt be figured out in a year. But Mendis has greatest asset for an spinner. He is highly accurate bowler.

[retterimp]

they are so damn lucky. out of nowhere they get mendis and they suddenly become a feared bowling side. without mendis i don't think we would have been bundled out like how we have been in this series numerous times.

[CC1981]

Its been my observation that, on loose terms, when a great bowler, who's used to solo wicket-taking, has a few genuine competition for the wickets, the # of wickets taken drops but so does the average. This is because while the bowler has less chance to accumulate wickets, a potent attack, especially a new-ball attack from the POV of a spinner, is giving them a bigger chance to get an early go at the lower order. Ie, expect less 6-90s and 5-100s and more 3-60s and 4-50s type of stuff from Murali. And if i may say so, this observation holds true for this series also : Murali's wicket/match performance is down (both from his career average and averages against india perspective) but his average is better.

[MPS 3]

So when is india going to unearth the next big spinner! or should i rephrase that and saying when are India's selfish players like Kumble gonna step down, he is past it.. give others a chance. Also the selectors need to grow a pair of balls and drop him he is over, and even though Harbhajan won the last game for us he has been past it for a while now too, but i will refrain asking for his head till i see his performance this test match. Give youngsters a chance!! :banghead:

[putrevus]

the most worrying factor with Mendis is he is taking wickets on absolute flat tracks with batsman having no clue which way ball is spinning unless he is decoded , he will take wickets in bunches.I would love to see mendis against aussies and see how they fare , champions trophy will prove it.

[fineleg]

the most worrying factor with Mendis is he is taking wickets on absolute flat tracks with batsman having no clue which way ball is spinning unless he is decoded ' date=' he will take wickets in bunches.I would love to see mendis against aussies and see how they fare , champions trophy will prove it.[/quote'] Over the course of next year, Aussies will slowly but surely sort this Mendis out. They will capitulate initially, but will sort him out - they are good at this sorting out players thing.

[Laaloo]

the most worrying factor with Mendis is he is taking wickets on absolute flat tracks with batsman having no clue which way ball is spinning unless he is decoded ' date=' he will take wickets in bunches.I would love to see mendis against aussies and see how they fare , champions trophy will prove it.[/quote'] i wanna know how our padosis do against him. It would be fun to watch when they play each other that is. :D

[The Outsider]

Well, Australia are not touring Sri Lanka for a test series till August 2011 - doubt Murali will be playing by then so they'll only have to contend with Mendis.

[flamy]

I'm a Mendis fan. He is awesome! :D