All hail Ajantha Mendis

The Asia Cup final is going on right now and Mendis has turned the game on its head. India were coasting at 76/1 after 9 overs. Now, it is 98/5 from 16. Currently, Mendis’ figures read 4-0-8-4. That’s 4 overs, 8 runs, 4 wickets. I’d heard a lot about this 23-year-old gem that Sri Lanka discovered, and finally I got to see him in action today. It seems it was also the first time for the Indian batsmen. Frankly, I’m quite disappointed the way they handled him (it seems they hadn’t done their research on him), but this post is not about India. It’s about Mendis. And what he can do for cricket.

Cricket will be that much more interesting because of him. I can’t wait to see Tendulkar play Mendis. India has some of the finest players of spin (Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman), and Mendis playing a Test against them is a mouth-watering aspect. Or even the Aussies. I am anxiously looking forward to these contests. They should be thrilling. Looking at the cricket schedule, India is touring Sri Lanka at the end of this month. What good timing. What might have been a drab series, at least to me, now has become very interesting. Let’s hope Tendulkar is fit and back in the Indian team by that time.

For those that haven’t seen Mendis, here’s a short video of the buzz he created when he first joined the Sri Lankan national team to play against the West Indies.

Cricket in NYC

I like to mine YouTube once in a while for new cricket videos. And this is what I found on my latest treasure hunt.

The most dangerous ball in sports

Fox Sports (USA) went on a mission to find the most dangerous ball in sports and ended up finding that it was the cricket ball (although the ball in baseball can be just as lethal). Watch for yourself.

Sport Science: Dangerous Balls

IPL Ad

Nice.

A good collection of catches

They’re not the best 25 all-time catches as the video claims, but it’s a pretty good collection nonetheless.

Shameless

Everybody knows of New Zealand’s shameless run out of Muralitharan. Charlie Austin picked it as his worst moment of 2006. I won’t elaborate on that anymore. Here’s the video for those that did not see it.

My question is this: isn’t there a rule saying a batsman can only be run out when he’s attempting a run? If Murali clearly wasn’t attempting another run, shouldn’t he have been adjudged not out?

Super Slow Mo

Apparently, embedding videos doesn’t work here (or I just don’t know how to do it). So, a link will have to suffice for now.

Enjoy.

Google It

Want to see a medley of some interesting (and some comedic) cricket moments? Or missed the recent Indian ODI against SA? Google it. I’ve discovered quite a few cricket videos on Google. It has a lot of memorable moments: from Warne’s ball of the 20th century to the complete highlights package of the 1999 World Cup semi-final between Australia and S. Africa.

If you condone the cheesy commentary, one of the better videos is a 40-min. feature of Tendulkar’s career. It’s informative and enjoyable, especially the first half: it shows a rare glimpse into the emergence of this batting icon. There’s an interview from before his playing days (when he was 15) where he mentions that he was ready to join the national team for their tour to the Caribbean.

Afraid of Marshall and Co.? I will have no problem facing Marshall.
Too young? No.
Raju Kulkarni’s the fastest bowler you’ve faced. How was it facing Kapil in the nets? He’s a good bowler too. I had no problems with his inswing or outswing.
You bowl as well? Yes, medium-pace. I will be bowling short spells only.

Interesting that he would term the premier paceman and leading wicket-taker in the country as “a good bowler too.” Another interesting bit was about his thoughts before his first tour of Australia in 1991-92.

I have seen a lot of video cassettes, and from that I can make out that the Australian wickets are very bouncy and fast. The ball comes on to the bat so you can play your strokes, and my game is to play a lot of strokes. So I think I’ll do fairly well.

Enjoy.