A March 11th born, Balapuwaduge Ajantha Winslo Mendis hails from Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Ajantha Mendis is premiumly classified as a slow-medium bowler, however his forte ranges from off-breaks, leg-breaks to googlies and the flickering carom ball. The 29 years old Sri Lankan cricketer was brought up alongside an elder brother and sister. He received his basic education at St Anthony’s college and then Moratuwa Maha Vidyalaya. Mr Lucky Rogers, his school coach, identified Ajantha’s talent initially. He went on to represent his school under 15 cricket team. Later in the year 2004, he joined the Sri Lankan Army after the demise of his father. Ajantha was a part of the Sri Lanka Artilery and represented the Army in two/three day’s matches and limited over matches.
His List A debut was against Lankan Cricket Club on behalf of Sri Lanka Army on November 8th 2006. He played his first First Class match against the same on November 17th 2006. Ajantha’s international career kick started on 10th April, 2008, against West Indies in a One Day match. On his debut, he gave 39 runs off 10 overs and bagged 3 wickets. His test debut was against India on 23rd July 2008 in Colombo and he dumbfounded all with a towering 8 wickets haul. His T20 career started off against Zimbabwe in October 2008. His first half century was against India on 6th of August 2010. He faced the maximum number of balls in the innings and scored 78.
Mendis has represented Sri Lanka in international cricket; he was also associated with various clubs such as Combined Provinces, Dhaka Gladiators, Kolkata Knight Riders, Pune Warriors, Wayamba and Hampshire etc. He was the ICC “Emerging Player of the Year” 2008.
Though the right-arm off spinner now occasionally finds a spot in the Sri Lankan squad, he continues to spread his charm over the limited over matches.