The Mendis Slayer

[Dhondy]

Eighty-four runs of 77 deliveries in a series where the rest appeared to be playing hand grenades. How does he do it? That's Virender Sehwag of course. The rest of the world can make Mendis look like some sort of demon with his quirky variations, but Sehwag has unmasked this circus artist for what he is- an overhyped jack of all deliveries. Never been dismissed by him in 3 Tests. Over the same period, he got Laxman no less than 5 times and Dravid on 4 occasions. For goodness sake, will batsmen stop watching his fingers do party tricks and start playing him on merit? How do you treat a 60 mph medium pacer who moves the ball both ways off the pitch? The answer, as Sehwag will tell you, is that you hit him with a very high backlift without any half measures to the furthest reaches of the ground. You need an unclouded mind for that. Crap bowler. Sehwag's shown him up. Can anybody else? The three other batsmen who could do that to him, and who treated his partner in crime, the other trickster Murali, with utter contempt in his backyard- Lara, Hayden & Fleming are all retired. Where have all the great batsmen gone?

[King]

To be honest Tendulkar didn't get out even once against him and scored quite freely against Mendis. Younis Khan swept him mercilessly in the first round and Mendis looked out of sorts. Mendis was smacked around in IPL by Yusuf Pathan so badly Kolkata dropped him for the rest of the games. There have been a few batsmen that have made him look not as good. I guess when he gets whacked around he losses it a bit.

[vvvslaxman]

Those who are newly facing Mendis will continue to have problems. It will take a bit.

[graphic23]

To be honest Tendulkar didn't get out even once against him and scored quite freely against Mendis. Younis Khan swept him mercilessly in the first round and Mendis looked out of sorts. Mendis was smacked around in IPL by Yusuf Pathan so badly Kolkata dropped him for the rest of the games. There have been a few batsmen that have made him look not as good. I guess when he gets whacked around he losses it a bit.

Sachin was lbw to Mendis padding the ball, and didn't offer a stroke. Sachin scored freely in that he took singles/doubles, and didn't get bogged down. But Sehwag attacked him, and succeeded. I think the latest headline about Mendis claiming that no batsman has figured him out is a bunch of Bull. Raina, Dhoni played him very well in the ODIs. Sehwag butchered him in the Test Matches.

[Dhondy]

To be honest Tendulkar didn't get out even once against him and scored quite freely against Mendis. Younis Khan swept him mercilessly in the first round and Mendis looked out of sorts. Mendis was smacked around in IPL by Yusuf Pathan so badly Kolkata dropped him for the rest of the games. There have been a few batsmen that have made him look not as good. I guess when he gets whacked around he losses it a bit.

He got Tendulkar LBW in the final Test. But yeah, not surprised to hear that Pathan unsettled him. That's the kind of approach you need against him. Although Younis didn't get out to him in the Tests played in Pakistan, he paid him far too much respect on a patta- 68 of 152 deliveries. Didn't watch the T-20 match in the first round, but it gladdens my heart that he played this overrated bowler well.

[The Outsider]

Actually, one unnoticed thing about the Sri Lanka tour was Tendulkar's handling of Mendis. Tendulkar had a poor series but was completely untroubled by Mendis. He scored 50 odd runs at around run a ball being dismissed only in the last innings when he was injured off Mendis. Tendulkar had just one of those tours where everything goes wrong at the slightest mistake and if things had gone a bit more his way in this game of millimeters and milliseconds, would have put up some big scores because he was reading and scoring off the biggest threat freely. Younis Khan, as Ravi pointed out in another thread also looks like a batsman who can play him with ease. I have never seen him troubled by any spinner and his pickings off Kumble and Harbhajan are close to legendary.

[flamy]

Mendis admitted Sehwag is the most difficult batsman to bowl to. :D

[graphic23]

And Dhondy, you definitely can't be serious when you call him a crap bowler. The fact that you made this thread itself is a testimony to the enormous success he's seen against all the Teams he's played against. That said, Pakistan are the only team who've played him really well on their first sight. West Indies had no clue what was coming. India certainly didn't.

[Dhondy]

And Dhondy' date=' you definitely can't be serious when you call him a crap bowler. .[/quote'] You are beginning to sound more and more like Sriram every day.:--D He's a "dichotomous" bowler. He'll domiate a lot of batsmen, but the really great ones will see through his rubbish and hit the cover off the ball.

[graphic23]

While I will concede that he has not been tested outside of the subcontinent, here are his Test match statistics thus far, against Pakistan and India - batsmen who are not foreign to spin by any means: filtered 5 19 17 4.75 0 27 6/117 24.29 2 1 0 and if we include Bangladesh, he's gotten 7 more wickets and the bowling average drops to 23. Here is the detailed test match list:

Overs  	Mdns  	Runs  	Wkts  	Econ  	Ave  	SR  	 	Opposition  	Ground
45.5  	8  	132  	8  	2.88  	16.50  	34.3  	 	v India  	Colombo (SSC)  	
55.2 	5 	209 	10 	3.77 	20.90 	33.2 		v India 	Galle 	    
62.0 	11 	137 	8 	2.20 	17.12 	46.5 		v India 	Colombo (PSS) 	
59.0 	14 	157 	1 	2.66 	157.00 	354.0 		v Pakistan 	Karachi 	
8.0 	2 	21 	0 	2.62 	- 	- 		v Pakistan 	Lahore 	

He was completely nullified by Pakistan's batsmen or it could be that he played on absolute pattas that it did not matter what he bowled. Alright, I see your point in these stats I guess. He's only seen success against us, and probably I'm blinded by that.

[punjabi_khota]

If UV could play him well in the recent ODI series (and that too in their den), that tells you something abt Mendis. :hahaha:

[graphic23]

You are beginning to sound more and more like Sriram every day.:--D

No! But I do believe in Geography and I don't work for TOI. I promise!

He's a "dichotomous" bowler. He'll domiate a lot of batsmen, but the really great ones will see through his rubbish and hit the cover off the ball.

Heh, I think we'll have to wait before we can make that claim, isn't it? You can't possibly use the example of Sehwag and say that the other greats will feel similarly. Sehwag's a freak of nature -a once in a lifetime batsman. He is frustrated by spinners - doesn't care much for them, and thats probably where his success comes from too.

[Dhondy]

Graphic, it's just a theory I have, having watched him. IMO, he'll be figured out by most batsmen eventually.

[graphic23]

Graphic' date=' it's just a theory I have, having watched him. IMO, he'll be figured out by most batsmen eventually.[/quote'] No its a fair theory. But then, most bowlers are figured out at one point or other. When they are continually able to come up with new tricks to beat the batsman, its what makes them great, right?

[The Outsider]

Graphic' date=' it's just a theory I have, having watched him. IMO, he'll be figured out by most batsmen eventually.[/quote'] Depends on what you mean by figured out. Will he continue to have series like he had against India - probably not. But he will be one of the bowlers of the next decade, and perhaps the best spinner in the next 10 years. In addition to the obvious mysteries - now that's an oxymoron - he provides which will no doubt be reduced he is a very very accurate bowler and on drier surfaces those subtle movements off the pitch ball after ball over after over on the middle and off stump line would continue to make him a formidable force.

[vvvslaxman]

Yea.. Mendis will continue to pose problems under certain conditions.

[punjabi_khota]

The fact that he relies on accuracy and a lil bit of spin will probably make him more dangerous than Murali(who likes to turn it big) in conditions like those in OZ. Murali's last tour to OZ was a disaster(albeit it was only a 2 test series) and I expect Mendis to have more success than him out of subcontinent.

[fineleg]

Depends on what you mean by figured out. Will he continue to have series like he had against India - probably not. But he will be one of the bowlers of the next decade, and perhaps the best spinner in the next 10 years. In addition to the obvious mysteries - now that's an oxymoron - he provides which will no doubt be reduced he is a very very accurate bowler and on drier surfaces those subtle movements off the pitch ball after ball over after over on the middle and off stump line would continue to make him a formidable force.

Yes. Accuracy and subtle variations is what made Kumble great (ofcourse also his determination and hardwork were big factors), and given that Mendis has more variations and nagging type of bowler, I think he will be very vital for SL victories in the future.

[Dhondy]

Bowler of the next decade...leading spinner, nah, don't think so. Let alone Murali, doubt he'll end with Kumble's average. In 5 years he'll be gone, another statistic in SL's long line of no name spinners. Come to think of it, their fast bowlers have had similar effects in their 90 minutes of fame, never to be heard of again. Any body remember Dhammika Prasad?

[cowboysfan]

i think Mendis will have a great career.In limited overs cricket it is har for batsmen to go after him because most dont read him that well and that doubt is partly their undoing as Mendis gets a lot of his wickets either bowled or LBW. In tests he will continue to trouble most batsmen although some of the sub-continental players have got better against him.this constrast might be seen in the next 2 series he plays-one against Pakistan and the other against NZ(both 3 tests and 10 odis).I think its likely he will end up getting more than 400 wickets in tests.