Published on - 7/7/2008
SRI LANKAN SPINNER Ajantha Mendis drew praise from unexpected quarters when former Indian left-arm spinner Bishan Singh Bedi described him as a \"meritorious\" bowler from the sub-continent with a \"clean action\".
Bedi, perceived as someone hard to impress in the wake of his criticism against Muttiah Muralitharan and Harbhajan Singh for their bowling actions, also said Mendis was a \"rare breed\" among Asian bowlers.
\"It feels great to see a bowler like Ajantha emerging from the sub continent. He has a fresh approach towards his art and maintains a clean action,\" Bedi said.
\"In contemporary cricket, bowlers think to bowl dot balls, but Ajantha bowls to take wickets, which shows his positive attitude towards the game,\" he said.
The 23-year-old right-arm, slow-medium bowler drew national selectors` attention, emerging as a prolific wicket-taker in domestic competition in 2007-08 season, claiming 46 wickets at an average of 10.56 and strike-rate of 31 from six matches.
Bedi, a part of the Indian spin quartet of 1970s, said Mendis had a sharp brain for bowling a variety of deliveries like off-breaks, top-spinners, flippers and leg-breaks to confuse batsmen.
\"If he has the craft to bowl different variety, he should get benefited by it. Why shouldn`t he use it? It makes him an interesting prospect,\" he said. \"Although he is still up and coming and early signs are encouraging, it would be interesting to see how he performs after 2-3 years, when batsmen around the world would be more prepared to face him,\" Bedi said.
