Having bamboozled batsmen in the recent Asia Cup, Sri Lanka's 'mystery' spinner Ajantha Mendis sought to put Indian batsmen on the backfoot ahead of the Test series by Thursday disclosing that he was working on a new delivery to add more variety to his armoury.
The former Sri Lanka captain was given the job for next month's tour of the West Indies.
Lockie Ferguson became the sixth New Zealander to take a T20 hat-trick as the visitors edged Sri Lanka by four wickets in a low scoring match in Dambulla.
Sri Lanka's new spin sensation Ajantha Mendis will be a threat for the Indian batsmen in their three-match Test tour beginning July 18, feels former India captain Sourav Ganguly.
Sri Lanka stayed on course for victory against New Zealand in the opening test in Galle despite Rachin Ravindra's unbeaten 91 on Sunday.
Ajantha Mendis' figures of six for eight are the best in the history of the Twenty20 Internationals, eclipsing his own figures of 6 for 16 against Australia at Pallekele on August 8, 2011.
Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya believes Sri Lanka's new mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis could be a bigger threat than veteran Muttiah Muralitharan in their five-match one-day series starting on Thursday. Zimbabwe, struggling to stay afloat against a background of political turmoil, have not hosted an international side since West Indies won a five-match series 3-1 last December.
The second match of the series will be played at Lord's, starting from August 29 and the final Test match of the series will take place at Kennington Oval on September 6.
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Kusal Mendis excelled under pressure again, hitting a sparkling 86 and featuring in two important partnerships to help Sri Lanka overcome a shaky start and post 281 all out on the opening day of the second Test against Australia on Thursday.
Real Madrid got their LaLiga title defence off to a limp start as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Mallorca.
India's newly-forged coach-captain combination of Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav will look to make instant impact against a Sri Lankan team in disarray.
Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis fell agonisingly short of a maiden double century but his career-best 194 propelled the hosts to 494 all out against Bangladesh in the first innings of the first Test on Wednesday.
Mathews made his T20 comeback for Sri Lanka in January after a three-year gap.
Hasaranga too is returning from a chronic heel pain on his left leg, which forced him to miss the ongoing IPL.
spinner Washinton Sundar was also in focus, especially during the Super Over, where he restricted the Sri Lankans to just two runs, which India won comfortably.
Mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis made it to Sri Lanka's 14-member squad for the first cricket Test against India with the pace attack looking severely depleted by injuries to frontline pacers.
Off-spinner Nishan Peiris picked up a six-wicket haul on debut as Sri Lanka crushed New Zealand by an innings and 154 runs.
Sri Lanka's unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis has said that during his meteoric rise in international cricket, master blaster Sachin Tendulkar was the most prized wicket, while Virender Sehwag the toughest to bowl to.
Wanindu Hasaranga will make his comeback after missing the Asia Cup and the 50-overs World Cup.
Harbhajan Singh does not doubt mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis' potentials but the star off-spinner believes it is old trickster Muttiah Muralitharan who would pose bigger threat for the Indian batsmen in the forthcoming Test series. Harbhajan heaps praise on Mendis, who ran through India's batting order in the Asia Cup final in Karachi, and said it was an extraordinary display of quality spin bowling.
Anrich Nortje demolished Sri Lanka with career-best figures of 4/7 as South Africa exploited the bounce on offer to secure a six-wicket win in their T20 World Cup opener in New York on Monday.
Jaiswal accomplished this milestone during his side's second T20I match against Sri Lanka at Pallekele.
Sri Lanka spinner Ajantha Mendis is developing a new delivery that could emerge in the One-day series against Australia.
IMAGES from the 3rd ODI played between Sri Lanka and India, in Colombo, on Wednesday.
Kusal Mendis remained unbeaten on 166 and combined in a fourth-wicket partnership of 196 with Asela Gunaratne to put Sri Lanka on course for a big first innings total against Bangladesh on the first day of the opening Test at Galle on Tuesday.
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If one has to analyse Ashwin the cricketer, it is very difficult to ignore Ashwin, the person, who had a very independent mind and a brain that probably ticked 24x7. He believed in de-construction of his art and became craftier one ball at a time.
Sri Lankan Kusal Mendis struck a majestic maiden century on day three of the first Test against Australia to leave the bowler-dominated contest evenly poised at Pallekele on Thursday.
SL executed their plans well against the Indian batters, who are not the cleverest performers on rank turners, while not many are though.
Sri Lanka's selectors snubbed ace spinner Ajantha Mendis while naming a 15-member squad for next month's ICC Champions Trophy in England.
In-form Sri Lanka right-hander Kamindu Mendis is another player on the move, with the 26-year-old improving five places to 11th and reaching a new career-high rating after he scored another century in the second Test of his side's recent series with New Zealand.
The Sri Lankan selectors, on Sunday, dropped batsman Kusal Mendis from their 15-member squad while Angelo Mathews returned to lead the side in the upcoming tour of India.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav smashed a brilliant half-century as India overpowered Sri Lanka by 43 runs in the first T20 International.
India's previous bilateral ODI series defeat against Sri Lanka came way back in 1997.
Sri Lanka's Dunith Wellalage and Harshitha Samarawickrama were named as the ICC Players of the Month for August 2024.
Images from the 1st ODI between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo on Friday.
The fate of the series was decided after India swept aside Sri Lanka in the first two games, leaving the possibility of an embarrassing whitewash hanging over the hosts' heads.
Kusal Mendis led a strong Sri Lankan second innings effort but the West Indies still held the advantage at stumps on day four of the first Test at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad on Saturday. Set a daunting target of 453 when the hosts declared their second innings at 223 for seven just after lunch, the visitors reached 176 for three by the close with Mendis unbeaten on 94.
Unlocking the Ajantha Mendis code on Sri Lankan pitches will not be difficult for Indian batsmen if they concentrate on his wrist movement, feels Test great Gundappa Viswanath. Viswanath said taking on Mendis in the upcoming Test series won't be difficult once the Indian batsmen carefully observe his wrist movement.
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