Cricketfiles.com

The new mystery bowler from Srilanka Ajanta Mendis has caused quite a few problems for the batsmen in Asia cup  with his unpredictable variety, it is said that he can bowl six different varieties, but  the key question is whether the batsmen can figure out his mystery balls or no?

I have noticed a few simple things in his action which might help demystify his bowling to some extent.

For a bowler to completely decieve a batsman must bowl his varities with the same action, Ajantha Mendis is new on the scene and most of the batsmen have not done their homework on him as of yet. With the paasage of time and with the help of all the technology I am sure he will get worked out.

The above picture clearly shows that he has three different grips and releases.

The first picture shows how he grips and releases the ball when he is bowling a Googly. Yes a Googly, he is an offspinner who can bowl a googly, the ball releases from the back of his wrist the seam is up and he uses the flick of his middle finger to spin the ball. He can bowl a flipper also with the same action but for that the seam should be straight in up right position.

The second picture shows him bowling a conventional off spin it is a normal grip for an off spinner the ball is in the front and not so difficult for a batsman to pick. The third picture which is unfortunately a bit cropped but you can watch the  video, he is bowling a doosra or a leg break the ball is again in the front and the middle finger is placed firmly behind it in a flick position like a carom strike, his pinky, ring and index finger will be raised when the ball is delivered it will be very hard for him to keep them down, he cannot bowl a lot of these deliveries as they must be quite painful for his middle finger. The three raised fingers will be a clear sign for the batsman.

If a batsman is paying attention  to his grip and release of the ball he can definitely work him out.

If Ajantha later on manages to bowl an off spin with the same action with which he bowls the doosra he will definitely be unplayable, I have seen bowlers who bowl offspin and legspin by flicking their middle finger but none with a cricket ball all of them used to bowl with a tennis ball with tape rolled over it,  the trick is in the placement of the middle finger and the seam position for doosra the middle finger is placed at the lower edge of the seam on the right side, and for off spin it will be placed on the left side.

I have made it sound easier but trust me it will not be easy for the batsmen as they have only a second to read the action.

What truly amazed me was his control, imagine a bowler controling the flight the speed and the length with only one finger and that too with a cricket ball either his finger is made of steel or he uses a lot of ice after the match.

I think the trick lies in his run up he uses a lot of momentum from his medium pacer like run up.

It will be fun to watch him bowl against the Indians.