Ravi Ashwin tells Russel Arnold to keep an eye on Kamindu Mendis

Kamindu Mendis, the ambidextrous Sri Lanka all-rounder, finally made his ODI debut on Sunday during the third One-Day International against South Africa. The 20-year old, who had made his international debut last year during the home T20I against England, bowls off-breaks in addition to slow left-arm bowling. He shot to the limelight during the warm-up match against England while playing for Sri Lanka Board XI.

The youngster, who had also led Sri Lanka in the 2016 Under-19 World Cup, had bowled off-spin against left-hander Eoin Morgan before switching to orthodox left-arm against right-hander Joe Root. He had also scored 61 from 72 balls coming in at No. 6 in that very game. Well, he was up to his tricks on his ODI debut too, bowling with both left and right arm in an attempt to get his maiden scalp. He eventually did get a scalp as Rassie van der Dussen was trapped lbw in his ninth over.

Mendis eventually finished the game with figures of 1 for 45 from ten overs. South Africa, on the other hand, ended their innings on 331 for 5. In-form opener Quinton de Kock once again starred with the bat, scoring 121 while van der Dussen scored a fifty. For Sri Lanka, Isuru Udana was the most impressive bowler, picking up 2 for 50.

Well, only time will tell how successful Mendis gets with his ambidextrous skills. But for the time India off-spinner R Ashwin is very excited with him. In fact, Ashwin also urged former Sri Lanka cricketer Russel Arnold to keep an eye on Mendis. The Tamil Nadu star, who is currently playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, took to Twitter to point out Mendis’ talent, writing: “Kamindu mendis is ambidextrous and a quality left hand bat. Watch out for him @RusselArnold69.”

Ambidextrous not new in the game:

While Mendis has certainly made people take notice of him, the talent of bowling with both the hands is something that is not new in cricket. In India, Akshay Karnewar had caught the headlines for the same reasons not very long ago while Pakistan’s Yasir Jan also has the same talent although he bowls pace. In the past, the likes of Hanif Mohammad, Graham Gooch, and Hashan Tillakaratne used to bowl with both of their hands.

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