Ajantha Mendis
- January 4, 2024
- Cricketer
Quick Facts
Ajantha Mendis Biography
| Name | Ajantha Mendis |
| Birthday | Mar 11 |
| Birth Year | 1985 |
| Place Of Birth | Moratuwa |
| Home Town | Moratuwa |
| Birth Country | Sri Lanka |
| Birth Sign | Pisces |
| Siblings | Asanka Marlon Mendis, Aruni Mendis, Rasika Mendis |
| Spouse | Yoshini Mendis |
Ajantha Mendis is one of the most popular and richest Cricketer who was born on March 11, 1985 in Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Although the ball can be made to either turn away or into a right-handed batsman, Mendis uses it to turn away from a right-handed batsman, to contrast it with his off-breaks and googlies. The Australian Test cricketer and coach Peter Philpott actually predicted the rise of a bowler such as Mendis in a book written in 1973.[1]
Mendis has represented the Army in 23 limited over matches and 59 two/three- day matches, in which he has 38 wickets and 244 wickets respectively to his credit. Mendis bowls off spin as his stock delivery and he has few more variations in his armoury- leg spin, top spin and faster bowl. All this was developed during 2006/2007 domestic seasons on his own. He also extended his purple patch in the domestic season 2007/2008 under 23 division 1 tournament and was later selected to the pool of “Academy Squad” organised by Sri Lanka Cricket. There he was able to polish his cricketing skills further. He had the opportunity of touring neighbouring India on an eight-day tour in June 2007 where he was given the opportunity to play two, two-day matches. In the meantime, Sri Lanka Cricket selectors could not ignore his performance in the Premier Limited Over Tournament 2007/2008 and got him selected to play in the “Provincial Tournament 2008” representing “Wayamba Province” under the National Captain. In that tournament he performed exceptionally well with the ball. Local TV commentators predicted him as the ideal replacement for senior spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in time to come and nicknamed him as “Mysterious Bowler”. His performance in the said tournament got the National Selectors to observe him further closely, after he became the most successful bowler by taking 68 wickets in nine matches which is also a record in any form of domestic cricket.
Mendis, although classified as slow-medium, bowls a mixture of deliveries, including googlies, off-breaks, top-spinners, flippers and leg-breaks, as well as the carrom ball, released with a flick of his middle finger. For Sri Lanka Army in 2007–08 he averaged a mere 10.56 and took 46 wickets in six games, his strike rate a startling 31. This gained him a call-up to the full Sri Lanka squad for the Caribbean tour in April 2008.
On 10 September 2008, Ajantha Mendis has won the “Emerging Player of the Year” award at the ICC Awards ceremony in Dubai. Mendis was the top choice of the 25-person Voting Academy, coming in ahead of England’s up-and-coming Stuart Broad, South Africa fast bowler Morne Morkel and fast bowler Ishant Sharma of India.
Sri Lanka Artillery Cricket Committee noticed his talents when he played a cricket match against the Army under 23 Division 11 during 2003/2004 tournaments. Following this he was invited to enlist in the regular force of the Sri Lanka Army, this was particularly due to the low number of cricketers from Colombo schools joining the Army in the recent years. He enlisted, partly due to the reason that his father, the bread-winner for the family had died the week before due to a heart attack.
Ajantha Mendis Net Worth
| Net Worth | $5 Million |
| Source Of Income | Cricketer |
| House | Living in own house. |
Ajantha Mendis is one of the richest Cricketer from Sri Lanka. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Ajantha Mendis 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)
Born on 11 March 1985, Mendis hails from a hamlet in Moratuwa. He is the third child in a family of five with an elder brother and a sister. He was raised Catholic. He has had his basic education at St Anthony’s College at Kadalana in his village where there were no facilities at all for sports. He subsequently entered Moratuwa Maha Vidyalaya in the year of 2000. During a cricket coaching class, Mendis’ talents were initially identified by the school coach named Mr Lucky Rogers back in the year 1998 when he was just 13 years of age. In the year 2000 he represented the school under 15 cricket team and he was selected to the first eleven team. He also deputised for the school team captain. This slow medium bowler with a variation of leg spin was adjudged the Best Bowler at the big-matches twice in 2001 and 2002.
Balapuwaduge Ajantha Winslow Mendis (Sinhala: අජන්ත මෙන්ඩිස් ; born 11 March 1985) known as Ajantha Mendis is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played for Sri Lankan national cricket team in all three formats. He was known as the “mystery spinner” due to the unusual bowling action and widely regarded as one of the best limited over bowlers in the world arena. In August 2019, he retired from all formats of cricket.
The Emerging Player of the Year Award was one of eight individual prizes given at the 2008, ICC Awards. Players eligible for this award must be under 26 years of age at the start of the voting period (9 August 2007) and have played no more than five Test matches and/or 10 ODIs before the start of the voting period.
Height, Weight & Body Measurements
Ajantha Mendis height Not available right now. Ajantha weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.
Who is Ajantha Mendis Dating?
According to our records, Ajantha Mendis married to Yoshini Mendis. As of December 1, 2023, Ajantha Mendis’s is not dating anyone.
Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Ajantha Mendis. You may help us to build the dating records for Ajantha Mendis!
During 2008 Asia Cup, Mendis made his mark with match winning bowling performance, which took him to won the player of the series of award as well. Against Pakistan on 29 June 2008, he took 4 for 47 and Sri Lanka won the match by 64 runs. On 6 July 2009, in the Asia cup final against India, Mendis delivered a match winning spell of astonishing figures of 6 for 13. Sri Lanka won their fourth Asia cup title by 100 runs.
Facts & Trivia
Ajantha Ranked on the list of most popular Cricketer. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in Sri Lanka. Ajantha Mendis celebrates birthday on March 11 of every year.
On 18 May 2008, Kolkata Knight Riders signed Mendis, till the end of the 2008 season. At the 2013 Indian Premier League Auctions held in Chennai, India on 3 February 2013, Mendis proved to be one of the most expensive players sold, purchased by the Pune Warriors India for $725,000.