Jeevan Mendis

An all-rounder with an impressive track record, it’s a mystery as to why the Colombo-born Jeevan Mendis has remained elusive for so long. Backed by a brother and father who were incidentally cricketers, Mendis enjoyed a flourishing career at school level before taking his performances one notch higher in the Under-17 Asia Cup and in the 2002 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand.

Debuting for the Sinhalese Sports Club in 2000-01, the southpaw played a few memorable knocks which also included a cracking unbeaten 152 in the 2003-04 season but the club’s ignorance towards his bowling talents finally forced him to join the Tamil Union Cricket Club in 2008-09 season. Straight away, the move paid off as he picked 22 first-class wickets that season and finished off 2009-10 with 35 scalps. His success in major part was due to his strange grip which bamboozled batsman into differentiating between the natural leg spinner and googly; he was also quite successful with the bat during this period.

Jeevan made his first ODI appearance against Zimbabwe in 2010 and on debut, picked up two wickets. A compact batsman and an outstanding fielder, Mendis has all the ingredients to be a regular in the Sri Lankan side. He represented Sydney Sixers in the 2012 Big Bash League, and the following year was bought by the Delhi Daredevils for IPL 6.