IAfrica compares the debut of Jason Krejza, other sports personalities and awards Mendis as the sports rookie of the year.
But those fine sportspeople aside, our overall Rookie of the Year Award goes to Sri Lankan spin-sensation Ajantha Mendis.
Mendis made his debut against the West Indies in April and burst onto the international scene during the Asian Cup in June. His 6/13 in the final — against Indian players that have played spin their whole careers — was remarkable, with Indian captain MS Dhoni stating in the post-match press conference that even a team with 11 batsman would not have been able to play him on the day.
Mendis’ 17 wickets during the tournament won him the Man of the Series Award and soon afterwards he got a call-up to the Sri Lankan Test side to play India in a three-match series. His combination of googlies, off-breaks, top-spinners, flippers and leg-breaks bamboozled the much-vaunted Indian batting line-up, taking 26 wickets during the series (a record for a Test debutant in a three-match series). But what made his feat even more remarkable were the means of dismissing his victims — at times the likes of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar had been made to look like (inebriated!) pub players.
To date, the 23-year old has played 18 One-Day Internationals and taken 48 wickets at a remarkable 10.12 runs per wicket and a strike rate of 16.9! Another two wickets in his next four ODIs — a feat which looks likely — and he will have become the quickest player to 50 wickets in terms of matches played.
Source: IAfrica