Published 23:23 IST, August 29th 2019

Ajantha Mendis, Sri Lanka's mystery spinner, retires from Intl Cricket

Sri Lanka's ‘mystery’ spinner Ajantha Mendis has announced his retirement from International Cricket. He took 288 wickets across the three formats of the game

Reported by: Jay Pandya
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Sri Lankan ‘mystery’ spinner, Ajantha Mendis has anunced his retirement from all forms of game. He deceived many batsmen with his ‘carrom ball’, and or variations over course of his international career which spanned for seven and a half years. He took 288 wickets across three formats of game. Mendis, who is 34, me his last appearance for Sri Lanka in 2015.

A short but impactful career

Mendis me his debut against West Indies in an ODI in April 2008 but he me his presence felt on world st with his exceptional bowling performance against India with figures of 6-13 in Asia Cup final three months later. He took 70 wickets in 19 Tests, 152 in 87 ODIs and 66 in 39 T20Is. Mendis grabbed 26 wickets in his maiden Test series against India, a record for a maiden three-match campaign. He also went on to become fastest player to take 50 ODI wickets in just 19 games, a record he still holds.

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Holder of records yet to be broken

Mendis holds record for best figures in T20 international cricket for his haul of 6-8 against Zimbabwe in 2012. He also took 6-16 in a T20 match against Australia in 2011, becoming only man to take two six-wicket hauls in T20 internationals. He is only cricketer to have a six-wicket haul in all three forms of cricket at international level. Mendis was wicketless and gave away 49 runs in 5 overs when he last played for Sri Lanka against New Zealand in an ODI match in Christchurch.

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Frequent injuries restrained his career

Mendis is famously kwn for his ‘carrom ball’ - leg breaks produced by flicking ball like a striker on a carrom board. After a while, his performances started to sink as batsmen found a way to play him. Frequent injuries played a part in hindering his career and soon he found himself out of Sri Lankan team. He also featured in 2011 edition of World Cup in 2011 where he picked 7 wickets in 5 matches. He was also Sri Lanka’s leing spinner in 2009 and 2012 editions of T20 World Cup.

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In past few years, Mendis has been captaining Police Sports Club in Sri Lanka's domestic Tier B tournament. He has been playing primarily as a batsman and bowling fewer overs. He has four half-centuries in his last eight innings. Former Sri Lankan captain Angelo Maws congratulated him for his international career on Twitter. 

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19:52 IST, August 29th 2019