Promising Youngsters

The series between West Indies and Sri Lanka involved a lot of new faces. With the lankans going in with a very young team there were a few who made use of the opportunity. Chamara Kapugedera has shown on a few occasions that he has a good temperament with the bat and he came good in this series. Kulasekara with the new ball was impressive and picked up some good wickets. But the stand out new face was definitely Ajantha Mendis, a young spinner. You cannot term him as an off spinner or a leg spinner because he bowls the conventional off spinner, a delivery that goes away and also an Anil Kumble type of googly. The batsmen just could not pick him and he is definitely a mystery spinner. There are already comparisons with Murali but that is not fair to this youngster because there can only be one Murali. But this fellow seems to have magic in his fingers and the prospects for him look really bright and Sri Lanka might have unearthed another gem of a spinner.
Take a look:


As for the West Indies they might have finally found the answer to their search for an opening partner to Chris Gayle in Sewnarine Chattergoon. The similarities in the name to Shivnarine Chanderpaul is rather interesting. However the similarities dont end there, this fellow is also from Guyana and he is also a diminutive left hander with quite the same build. But his batting looks much neater than Chanderpaul's and it remains to be seen if it will be as effective. I was really impressed at the compsure he displayed at the crease and he looks at home at the international level with a good technique for an opening bat. He has made some neat 40s so far and West Indies will hope that he can convert them into big scores and have a long career at the highest level.