Ajantha Mendis’ Asia Cup

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@AFP PHOTO

The Asia Cup will get underway in Dubai in 24 hours’ time and looking back at the tournament it brings back happy memories as an unknown rookie from Sri Lanka Army humbled India’s formidable batting line up in Karachi in the 2008 final. It has been ten years now.

Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup campaign in 2008 was meticulously planned and properly executed. Trevor Bayliss, the Head Coach, Mahela Jayawardene the captain and Kumar Sangakkara his deputy were the masterminds of this win. Mendis had little impact in school cricket and with Sri Lanka Army playing in Tier ‘B’, the spinner had not got the attention of the selectors. But the fact was that the local batsmen were struggling to pick him, particularly the flicked delivery he bowled using the thumb and middle finger that later came to be known as the carrom ball – currently a potent weapon in a spinner’s armoury.

Discussions about drafting Mendis into the senior squad emerged in February 2008 ahead of Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia. But it was decided to wrap him up in cotton wool for the bigger challenge later that year which was the Asia Cup.

Just prior to the Asia Cup, Mendis was given a taste of international cricket when the national cricket team toured West Indies in April. Two months later came the Asia Cup and the opponents, generally good players of spin bowling, were clueless against Mendis. His mystery was too much for the opposition and Sri Lanka were crowned Asian Champions beating India in the final by 100 runs.

Sri Lanka had qualified for the final of the Asia Cup with a game to spare and it was decided not to play the mystery man in their last group game against India. So for the final, the Indians arrived not knowing what to expect.

Mendis took six for 12 in the final accounting for Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma and was named Man of the Match. He was also named Player of the Series finishing with 17 wickets after five games.

Although Mendis was the cynosure of all eyes, opener Sanath Jayasuriya’s contribution was equally vital. After being put into bat, Sri Lanka were 66 for four but recovered to post a total of 273 all out. Jayasuriya shared a 131-run stand for the fifth wicket with Tillakaratne Dilshan (56). Jayasuriya posted his 27th ODI hundred, a flamboyant 125 in 114 balls with nine fours and five sixes.

Then Mendis bamboozled the highly rated Indian batting line-up to finish with stunning figures. The start to India’s innings was hardly the indication what was to follow as Sehwag raced to 60 off 35 balls as India reached 76 in the first eight overs. Jayawardene boldly introduced rookie Mendis to the attack with the Power Play still on. Sehwag tried to cash in charging the second ball he faced from the spinner. The ball drifted away and Sangakkara completed the stumping to trigger a famous collapse as India were shot out for 173 inside 40 overs.

“I had no option at that time but to introduce Mendis in the ninth over. Sehwag was batting very well, and we needed to take a wicket. I knew the ball would be too new for Murali. We just took a gamble,” Jayawardene told journalists after the final.

“Most of our batsmen couldn’t pick Mendis. We had never played him before. We had only seen videos and you can visualize and all, but he was difficult to pick out there in the middle. We never had any real reply against him,” Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni said.

This was also the last cricket tournament that was held in Pakistan. With General Pervez Musharraf still ruling the war-torn nation, Pakistan took no chances with security of the teams and the event went without any incidents.

A few weeks later, India arrived for a three match Test series in Sri Lanka. This time with the big four – Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman and Sourav Ganguly – in the side India were expected to do well. Yet, the Indians couldn’t decode Mendis. He tormented the tourists claiming 26 wickets in the series and in the process broke Sir Alec Bedser’s record for most wickets in a debut series, a record that had stood for more than 60 years.

You will notice Mendis’ name being regularly mentioned during this Asia Cup campaign as he still owns the best bowling figures in an Asia Cup match leave alone a final. He is the only bowler to have claimed a six-wicket haul in the Asia Cup.