Ajantha Mendis Announces Retirement From All Forms Of Cricket

Former Sri Lanka spinner Ajantha Mendis, on Wednesday, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket with immediate effect. Known for his unorthodox bowling style, Ajantha Mendis was not a regular feature in the Sri Lankan team in recent years. It was his style and different variations that made him famous as a mystery spinner.

The right-arm spinner made his ODI debut against the West Indies at Port of Spain in 2008 and took 3 for 39. In the same year, he made his Test debut too against India in Colombo and picked up eight wickets in the game. In doing so, he became the first Sri Lankan bowler to get an eight-wicket haul on Test debut.

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Mendis became a household name after bamboozling the Indian batsmen in the final of the 2009 Asia Cup final. Playing only his eighth ODI, he picked up the first six-wicket haul in the Asia Cup final against India and helped Sri Lanka win the trophy.  His 6 for 13 is the third-best bowling performance in a tournament final, and the third-best for a spinner in ODIs. Overall, he had picked up 17 wickets in that tournament which is the best for an edition of the Asia Cup. He had won the man of the match award in the finals as well as the player of the tournament award for his efforts.

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The stunning display in his first year in international cricket saw him win the Emerging Player of the Year award at the ICC Awards ceremony in 2008. Later, Mendis broke the fastest 50 wicket record in ODI, previously held by Ajit Agarkar of India for 23 matches. He broke the record by taking 50 wickets in just 19 matches. He was also named in the World ODI XI by the ICC in 2009 and 2014

Ajantha Mendis (6 wickets for 8 runs) currently holds the record for the best bowling figure in Twenty20 history. He is the only bowler to take 6 wicket-haul in Twenty20 twice. In fact, until February 2017, he was the only bowler to have taken six wickets in a T20I.

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