According to BBC Sinhala, the Sri Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis has retired from all forms of cricket.
The 34-year-old Ajantha Mendis played his last international match in December 2015. After playing 145 international matches, Mendis took 288 wickets. In the early days of his international career, Mendis earned global fame for his unplayable carrom ball. At that time, Mendis consistently dominated world cricket with the ball through his strong variations.
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However, his bowling domination faded away with time progress. Soon, he faced the tough fights to maintain his position in the playing XI. Later, he was dropped out from the national squad due to inconsistent performances.
Ajantha Mendis made his international debut in April 2008 through the ODI cricket. Mendis played 19 Tests, 87 ODIs and 39 T20Is for Sri Lanka where he took 70, 152 and 66 wickets respectively. In T20I cricket, he is the joint second-most wicket-taker as a Sri Lankan bowler and the most wicket-taker as a Sri Lankan spinner.
Sri Lankan ?? mistery spinner Ajantha Mendis (34) announces his retirement from all forms of Cricket. He last played for Sri Lanka in 2015. He ends with 70 Test, 152 ODI & 66 T20I wickets. ? pic.twitter.com/e18CxUc4ec
— Azzam Ameen (@AzzamAmeen) August 28, 2019
Some great international records of Ajantha Mendis
In his international career, Ajantha Mendis has achieved some great records. Here are some of those:
i) Ajantha Mendis is holding the records of the top two best bowling figures in T20I history. On 8th August 2011, Mendis had the bowling figures of 4-1-16-6 against Australia at Pallekele. Later, on 18th September 2012, Mendis broke that previous record and created a new T20I record. It was the match against Zimbabwe at Hambantota where Mendis had the bowling figures of 4-2-8-6. He is the only bowler to manage twice six-wicket haul in T20I career.
ii) Ajantha Mendis is the fastest bowler to complete 50 ODI wickets. He achieved this feat 19 matches.
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iii) Ajantha Mendis is also the fastest bowler to complete 50 T20I wickets. He achieved this feat in 26 T20Is.
Mendis played his last T20I match on 27th March 2014 against England at Chattogram. Just a few months later, Mendis played his last Test, which was against South Africa at Colombo (SSC) in July 2014. On 26th December 2015, the spinner played his last ODI which was against New Zealand at Christchurch.