When a mystery engulfed India and Sri Lanka Cricket

[@dimejoe2621]

He was a nightmare when he was first introduced🤯 never seen such dominance by a spinner against India as Indian team is known for playing spin very well

[@itzClawS_]

Hey man, just wanted to say a big thank you for covering cricketing personalities outside the main 3-4 cricketing nations! Been watching your videos for a long time and its mad impressive how you can make us viewers stay engaged for 20-30 minutes with a deep storyline and a very good plot. Ajantha Mendis is such an underrated cricketer, if it weren't for the countless number of injuries and the 'up-close' bowling analysis, he would've been one of the most lethal bowlers in world cricket.

[@6ixandout]

Thanks man! Every cricketing nation deserves some time in the spotlight.

[@sumitdewase7073]

​@@6ixandoutYou are absolutely amazing!

[@parkaarpencil7856]

Check out a channel cricket raaz english. U’d love that too

[@cricketmadness8588]

Meh pala pala boru nokiya

[@shifatmohiuddin5748]

Ajantha Mendis! A name I will never forget as a fan of the Indian Cricket Team. I really hated him in 2008 when he crashed the Indian party in the Asia Cup. Then the test series happened, India lost. I became more angry. I am not going to lie. I took immense pleasure when he was battered by the batters, especially Sehwag. Now with hindsight and as a much mature cricket fan, I appreciate his contribution to the game. Kids in Bangladesh (my country) started to copy his technique of carrom ball. That's his lasting influence on the game. I wonder if Sri Lankan cricket fans view Mohammad Siraj like I used to view Mendis.

[@sauron2000000]

As someone older, my hate for Lanka started in 1996 from Eden Gardens😂😂😂

[@JackBarrBaxter]

Mohammad Siraj is disliked by everyone not Indian, to be fair. One of the most arrogant personalities in world cricket.

[@ranjotrakkar6663]

​@@JackBarrBaxterarrogant wtf bruh kabi usko off the field dekha bhi hai?? Uske jitna humble koi nhi hai bhai one of the most down to earth player hai wo cricket world ka

[@lionheart650]

And didn't perform under pressure😂​@@JackBarrBaxter

[@shifatmohiuddin5748]

@@sauron2000000 I was not even born then but it is not hard to understand the frustration. No mind could have made itself ready for that disaster. My uncle (he was a die-hard Team India supporter) always told me that Azharuddin threw that match! Who knows what transpired that day!

[@siddharthanandipathak1857]

I was in class 6 that time. He was a nightmare for opponents. Such a perfectionist 🛐 Being an Indian it always feel joyful to appreciate great talents. Mendis was one of them.

[@vibhavanand6018]

Man, I vividly remember the series where he terrorized us with his mystery balls. It was all over the news. What a bowler! Thanks for this video

[@varunjoel3281]

Great video! You're absolutely right about Mendis. He was an outlier, even the best in the business couldn't read him for years. As an Indian fan, there were a few years in between where I was more scared of Mendis than Murali or Wasim Akram. He was a fine, fine bowler.

[@Khalsa1699mrsingh]

What Years ? Within six months he was thrashed by the same indian team and then nobody heard of him .

[@mudr.kelkar]

Just stumbled on this channel, brought back some classic memories through some quality narration and video by the side. Keep up the work mate, as a cricket fanatic, I loved this content!!

[@RockySanz54]

Him being the fastest to take 50 ODI wickets in history and not 100 or 200 Wickets shows that the batsmen from other nations found him out very quickly

[@Anjula321]

he just had two bad years in 2009 and 2010.

[@dimuthgamage1248]

Well there is another thing. He had a back injury where it limited hom from bowling his regular off spin. He had to keep bowling carrom bowls which made it easy to predict. That nack pain made him retire early.

[@ranjotrakkar6663]

True specially Asian batsman

[@parkaarpencil7856]

He alwsys had injuries lurking around

[@craaaaaaazy22]

Mendis's accuracy was diminished later in his career. Its not just batsmen studied his bowling but Mendis lost his length and line.

[@ragnong9680]

I so vividly remember watching that test series. The best team in the world at playing spin, and we felt so hopeless facing him. To this day, the craziest thing I've seen in cricket.

[@DanielHoughton-s3i]

Ur vids r actually so good, i love the good work keep it up!!!

[@sagnikganguly2194]

i still remember seeing his brutal spin against india as a debutant. what a talent he was! thanks man for unraveling his capabilities.

[@SuperYasela]

As a Sri Lankan, I didn’t recognize Ajantha in the way you've described here. In the modern era, he introduced the carrom ball, but once the mystery around it was solved, his wicket-taking ability declined. He didn’t evolve when batters adapted to his variations. In modern cricket, there is no lasting mystery-everything is exposed under the scrutiny of cameras. This means a bowler must be highly intelligent and adaptable when the opposition develops countermeasures. However, you're right in pointing out that he did bring a new mystery to the game, which is essential in today’s T20 format: solving a mystery with another mystery.

[@squaredrivexd]

The best cricket channel on KZbin. Finally, I heard someone talk about the magician in Ajantha Mendis. He was just amazing to watch on his day. 🔥

[@parkaarpencil7856]

Cricket raaz english check it and reply me afterwards

[@OldSchoolGamer-o1h]

This is a fantastic video. Ajantha is truly a legendary bowler.

[@Rose-ng2zp]

Appreciating this as a Sri Lankan.

[@zeeshanlalani2160]

Love your narration, script and your research. Also, your video editing and colleges would great, really appreciat it and enjoy it, will wait for more from you. Thanks.

[@shajiehussain1130]

I was there in National Stadium Karachi to watch the Asia Cup final. Everyone thought India ran away with it until Mendis came on and spun his web

[@MrRajiv256]

I absolutely loved Mendis ever since I saw him. His bowling videos are my guilty pleasure watches.

[@GauravSingh-fh6dn]

Thanks for the video... Memories bring back Memories ❤

[@fromthebalconyview3583]

Appreciating you from Bangladesh Good video Ajantha was somethimng else 👏 Some talent ❣️

[@preshant91]

Suresh Raina figured him out. Took him apart in the 2010 Champions League.

[@lakkadbagga]

He could never figure out short balls though.

[@danuski]

@@lakkadbagga 😂

[@spiritualagnostic209]

Great video! 👏 BTW I noticed from comments that most commenters have not viewed the video fully, before typing their comments. While I appreciate your style of storytelling, most simple minded people who watch youtube have the attention span of a gnat…..

[@TufuMySon]

Ajantha Mendis, Sunil Narine and Mujeeb Ur Rehman are forever my Favourite Mystery Spinners. Just Imagine if these three will be in one team????you will get wickets in every overs

[@junaiydqadir1923]

Great analysis and a wonderful tribute to the mystery man "Ajantha Mendis". Thank you sir!!

[@prashantbharati1867]

I remember this asia cup final so well. it was my 6th birthday and i had to excuse this game to go to cut my birthday, sehwag was blistering at that time. and when i was back, there was suresh raina on the screen and the score was something in 90s

[@Abhishek-l8e]

How come Suraj randiv was selected ahead of him still baffles me in 2011 wc final..too many changes made by sl in final..seems it was fixed ..even as an Indian

[@kaushickmadhukumar9826]

by 2011 mendis mystey had faded

[@harsh2810]

​@@kaushickmadhukumar9826mystery remains untill it doesn't spins.

[@Anjula321]

​@@kaushickmadhukumar9826in 2011 he took 17 wickets in 14 matches @25 average.

[@sauron2000000]

As a great man said Khatam tata bye bye goodbye😂😂😂😂😂

[@intolerantyt7544]

Man ...unexpected changes in squad is the weapon of Srilankan team. Ironically, this video is the Asia Cup finals and Indian team was unbeaten in that tournament until before this match. As you can see, India lost because of Mendis..And coming to your question, Sehwag & Dhoni played a key role in revealing mystery of Ajanta Mendis that made him ineffective against India with time. As an element of Surprise, hall mark of srilankan team which worked on most occasions, in 96 WC with Jayasurya & Kaluwitarana as openers and like Mendis in this video ..., but this strategy didn't worked in 2011 finals despite getting Sachin & Sehwag very early early. Thanks to Gambhir & Kohli, both steadied the Indian innings

[@Sohaib19874]

great content keep up the good work, I remember the asia cup final because I had both Jaysuria and mendis in my fantasy team and I won a big cash prize because of it. sri lanka also did not play him in the group game against India shielding mendis from them. what makes the performance truly remarkable was it was a very favourable chasing ground because of dew with 330 plus scores being chased very easily but mendis just blew India away.

[@bridgetwadane4392]

How tf did you manage to have Mendis in your fantasy team? He was an unknown outside of Sri Lanka??

[@akshaycherian2047]

thanks for the love poured into this video and depth of thinking.. really enjoyed it!

[@BadManthefirst]

What an interesting and insightful video! Glad I took the time out to watch it, thanks mate

[@ndv0123456789]

Another great video mate, keep them coming. Completely agree, we need more mystery spinners coming through to keep challenging batters. Otherwise, the game gets stale

[@udaradilrangadesilva8666]

Great video for Ajantha. He could have a long career!

[@hasithaudalagama3837]

Hey man. It's lovely to see how much effort you have put into making your contents. Keep it up

[@blackmask22605]

Sri lanka always produce incredible spinners from generation to generation

[@shubham5258]

Hey man as always your content is top notch. One request can you please make a video on Mohmmad Asif plz...

[@Musicreview05]

he was an ordinary bowler. Post Asia Cup 2008, Indian cricket team visited Srilanka multiple times and won those series and also scored against mendis.

[@supremegodemperordonaldtru3563]

Such a shame his hereditary degenerative disc disorder basically crippled his career. Mendis still won SL an Asia cup in 2014 winning the semi vs India with a 4fer.

[@ayoutubecommenter1914]

imagine ajantha mendis debuted against india in 2011 cwc final

[@bridgetwadane4392]

That's what I thought of when he played the Asia Cup semifinal against Pakistan and took them apart. I really wished then that the Sri Lankan cricket board dropped him for the Asia Cup final and from playing international cricket for

[@VinayKumar-pe2xu]

This KZbin channel is mainstream media for me Thank you so much man

[@SandeepYadav-yu1nk]

I was 10 year old that time ..can't forget this MATCH

[@KaushikViralVlogs]

I witnessed this match in shell shock 😲.... Jayawardene smartly ensured India face Mendis only during the Final Match.

[@zafreacts1587]

Ajantha was a lovely part of cricketing world. He was a great

[@sumitsagarg]

Loved this video as well like your others...PLEASE! Upload a bit more videos. Cheers!

[@pawanraj9475]

If we need to promote cricket to get popular in non cricket nation we need ppl like u sir thank u

[@narayanchari8634]

Saw that match on tv & we all thought they had found murali's succesor.

[@upwarddownward6652]

I always wondered where did Mendis disappear. I still remember him ripping through team India to this day. He was the best of the best I had ever seen and I think I'll see.

[@MrHitessh]

This is terrific storytelling. Loved it mate

[@eaterofjams]

Beautiful video, one of your best. And you're absolutely right: impact cannot and should not always be measured in numbers. I mean what is the numbers impact of Jonny Rhodes? Yet nobody doubts how he changed the face of cricket. Ajantha was untouchable in his early series. The heights he touched, even if fleetingly, have not been achieved by very many sportsmen. And sometimes that's enough.

[@DhruvGupta-ilmv]

Very well put!

[@sushreyomisra3261]

Comprehensive as usual with amazing narration!

[@thumularathnayaka7611]

Great video… brought back some wonderful memories …❤️

[@jayavardhanjosyula6509]

What a video essay. Love the narrative. Cheers!

[@abbas_alit]

This guy knows cricket, great stuff

[@YAKA6991]

I remember watching matches those days. It was sensational.

[@ranjangowda9145]

Your explanation and narration is out of this word. ❤

[@milindapeiris9481]

Great analogy on Ajantha Mendis

[@mohitdabbiru3242]

Amazing Video man keep it up

[@UMANGPLAYS]

Every once in a while, one Srilankan mystery spinner has rattled indian batting order.

[@nMee5h]

He was so accurate with his bowling.. He had the ability to land different variations on the same spot which made it harder for batsmen to pick him. Injuries made it hard for him otherwise he would have be playing

[@shatnermohanty6678]

Make a video on Analysing the Yorker in Cricket as well as the best Yorker specialists Waqar Younis , Malinga , Bumrah etc

[@sanuyoutube69]

i dont know to say but i feel more proud , i mean sri lanka is unique in cricket sport is it ? i think we have lot of unique bowlers and batters in cricket like murali , ajantha , malinga , tm dilshan , sanath jayasooriya am i right ? or is it feel because im sri lankan ?

[@Thacarshee]

Seeing Ajantha Mendis for the first time in 2009 was a treat. Ajantha only took 19 ODIs for 50 wickets He has test half centuries, Even won a game by playing a six vs West Indies. He is beautiful What a bowler. He broke rules and innovated T20 cricket.

[@jackdarby2168]

Very well done. Great take. Love Mendis ❤❤

[@shaunstelfox1718]

Ajantha Mendis didn't have a long career, just like Maheesh Teekshana's mystery has somewhat disappeared.

[@dante666jt]

One trick pony

[@supremegodemperordonaldtru3563]

He didnt have a long career because of a hereditary back issue. He literally missed half the games and had to be injected with cortisol just to get through matches. Still he delivered in the 2014 Asia cup

[@Kamini69-p4f]

Excellent 👍👍

[@Stardust_4]

Mate, can you make a video on Australia Vs India test series 2008 It has all the drama and controversy attached to it including the monkey gate incident, Steve bucknor's errors, Ponting's antics, India's win in Perth etc., It'd be amazing if you can cover that series. Thank you in advance Really appreciate your work. Much love and support

[@smcsilva]

Awesome video - well made!

[@CatastrophicDisease]

Man I remember that Asia Cup game! I was a kid and just couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

[@64offsuiter]

What's unusual is that mendis is still fairly recent yet no modern pundits seem to mention him when talking about spin innovators.

[@Abhishek.2635]

Very nice video, bro !!! Keep it up

[@sarma123]

Such a nice content 😊 mate love from India ❤❤. Suggest you to make mighty Australia consecutive 16 test match wins domination

[@abhishekbanerjee7605]

Total run 58/1 & shewag scored 50 🤣

[@abdullahosmani13]

Make a video on Shohag Gazi of Bangladesh too. He was magical in his first couple years as well and soon became lost

[@bharath1234561]

I still remember his first match against India…as an Indian it was an unforgettable nightmare

[@Cricketshorts9494]

Wait how do you have this less subs i am watching your videos from a very long time but i never realised i tought you had 300k subs

[@nischay1810]

Nice production. Well done.

[@JAZIBKALEEM]

I watched this match live in Karachi. Mendis was a beast!

[@MostlyRenditions]

What a fresh presentation! Thank you very much, I was tired of watching Kohli, Rohit on Star Sports 24 x 7.

[@rajatdasgupta7843]

"Pakistan hosted the Asia Cup in 2008 and Sri Lanka met India in the finals in Karachi. Mendis humbled the Indians with figures of six wickets for 13 runs. The likes of Yuvraj Singh, M.S. Dhoni and Virender Sehwag had little clue how to pick his carrom balls. A few weeks later when India’s Test team toured Sri Lanka, they had all the reasons to believe that they possessed the ammunition to counter Mendis’ mystery. India’s famous middle order called the Fabulous Four comprising Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman and Sourav Ganguly hadn’t featured in the Asia Cup. But Mendis had a field day. He picked up 26 wickets in three matches as Sri Lanka made India eat humble pie. He went onto break Sir Alec Bedser’s World Record, that had stood for more than 50 years, for most wickets in a debut series. Soon he became a sensation. Teams were more worried in working out Mendis’ carrom ball than Murali’s doosra. The carrom ball is delivered by flicking the thumb and middle finger. The ball pitched on leg-stump and turned sharply towards the off-stump. Mendis had operated leaving the mid-on free and batsmen perished thinking that they had an easy single on offer. They were either bowled or trapped leg before wicket most of the time. Indians first decoded Mendis mystery. They decided that they were not going to play the on-drive to the carrom ball. Other teams soon followed suit and the mystery was decoded. With teams tackling his main weapon, Mendis was ineffective." counterpoint.lk/the-rise-and-fall-of-ajantha-mendis/

[@faheemsultan7615]

Great job buddy 👏

[@danielkhalik6136]

Literally came across your channel now as I sit with some tea after dinner. Would you share something on Bangladesh legends? Muhammad Ashraful would be an interesting watch

[@vindanaa9300]

One hell of a video!

[@2chotti]

Great video. Thanks

[@LukeHibberd-u5n]

I love your vids you gotta make more!!!!

[@knightofceylon-ms1us]

Mendis could have extended his career and become a bowler to top 500 plus wickets easily, only problem was Ajantha Mendis didn't develop the stock delivery more to use and surprise batsmen with his repertoire of variations wisely.

[@zeus3086]

He was found out. He never had that impact after 50 wickets

[@knightofceylon-ms1us]

@@zeus3086 He was found out simply because of him using his variations like a stock delivery.

[@rajshekharsingh8303]

Isn't Maheesh Theekshana's and Mendis action similar...?

[@vickyb7802]

Nice research. Nice video.

[@kingrapid]

Mendis was a menace... ❤

[@josecherian8877]

class video mate :)

[@kavindawishwajith848]

Great video … 👏👏👏

[@That_was_me]

Please make a documentary on the BGT series as well

[@kushaal007]

very good analysis brother

[@iamchanuthwick]

This video is likely not to happen. But if possible please make a video on Marvan Atapattu just like the video on Jack Leach. His story deserves to be heard.

[@spojha7542]

Bro which country are you from

[@iamchanuthwick]

@@spojha7542 Why do you ask?

[@spojha7542]

@@iamchanuthwick I just wanted to know cricket is popular or not I am from Netherlands🇳🇱

[@iamchanuthwick]

@@spojha7542 Sri Lankan my friend

[@sauravjindal8108]

How to get these cricket videos of these matches? Please can u tell me sir ? It will be very kind of you

[@bibhurout3611]

I remember he was on every Indian cricket fan' mouth those days.

[@socratesphilanthropy4937]

Very honest review

[@Hasi_era]

Real nostalgia

[@itssubhadip7548]

On his first series against India. Mendis was found out. Srilanka lost the ODI Series 4-1.after that series Mendis bowled well to other nations apart from India. In IPL Mendis was hitted badly

[@metroarjun]

It was Dhoni,Raina,Sehwag who decoded Ajantha mendis and others followed it.He became ineffective in 2009 series.

[@mk67890]

Most ppl don't remember that. They just ask y didn't he play 2011wc final, as if it was the very next match after the asia cup final😂

[@anonymous74614]

and i remember yuvi was the last batsmen to decode mendis

[@komalsan1430]

It was sachin, Then the rest of the batsmen followed and decoded mendis

[@TheSLWanderingCouple]

lol he was never decoded. he got injured and lost his rythm. when he was at his best he was unplayable and Indians were down on knees on his days

[@niladribhowmick]

It was Sehwag first..

[@kennyx8482]

can you make a video about angelo matthew's Timeout scandal thingy? cheers!

[@thecoffeeguy96]

India always been weak against spinners 😂 Thank you for this content as a Sri Lankan I really appreciate 🎉❤ and request all the Indians accept the truth instead of crying Prime Sri Lanka used to be the father of india 🔥

[@pubudupelarachchi6854]

Mahela Jayawardanepura should be the 2011 world cup series , Sri Lankan Captain. Results may be change!!!