Ajantha Mendis

Mendis - Yet to face challenges

Mendis is a name that is always familiar to the Sri Lankans during last few years. Mendis Special is a brand of liquor that common man consumes. Vernon L.B. Mendis was a renowned state official. In cricket, it was Duleep Mendis, who created history as he guided Sri Lanka to her first ever Test cricket victory in 1985. The match was against India played at the P.Saravanamuttu Stadium. Now, the time has come for Ajantha Mendis. He is the talk of the town.

Between the periods of Duleep Mendis and Ajantha Mendis considerable changes befell at micro and macro levels in the socio-economic conditions in the country. The state intervention to the economy has been curtailed. The notion of the nation state becomes fallacious in the context of the globalization. Customs, cultural values have been restructured by the relations of the capital. Why not, the game of cricket!

When Duleep Mendis was the captain of Sri Lanka, the governing body, which ministrate the players was the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL). When Ajantha Mendis plays cricket it is Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). The ulterior behind the BCCSL were the class structure and the politics. Mean while one can see the foundation of SLC is capital, politics and the night of the world. The recent elections uncover the truth.

The dispute over wages of the players is an experience that reveals the influence of capital in present structure of cricket. Some of the players have consented to play in next IPL series despite the SLC is arranging a cricket series in England at the same period of time. The chairman of the Interim Committee Arjuna Ranatunga, who captained Sri Lanka during the World Cup Series in 1996, told Sinhalese daily that the priority should be given to the country than the personal benefits. The above two confrontations manifest the nexus of cricket and capital in a simple form and how it challenges the traditional administrative structure.

Another important aspect that immensely has an impact on Sri Lankan life is the ongoing war in the country. Been a military officer Ajantha Mendis would have been famed as a warrior, though the much famous “carom ball” turned his destiny. As an accreditation for his performance in the Asia Cup tournament, the commander of Sri Lanka Army promoted Mendis from soldier to a Second Lieutenant. If the term “Tamil” disgust the Sinhala chauvinists, the term “soldier” will be terrorized the Tamil community. Albeit, names like Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis derive opposite meanings to the above terms. True, it is not a function of cricket, but it discloses how the cricket structured the ideology of the people.

Technology and media are another two elements that dominated the cricket. Once, this writer can remember at an Indian variety show a performer told that half of the Sachin Tendulkar’s success is Tony Greig. He made the comment as a joke. However it unveils a truth. How the cricket has transformed into a hyper-reality. Media produce larger than life images of the cricketers. The warm and down to earth images expired as cold images emerge with commentaries, advertising and promotion campaigns. When above facts are taken into account one can say cricket is a fiction.

In an interview with a Sinhalese weekly “Divaina”, Mendis said that cricket has changed his life. Mendis says “Cricket has changed my life. It helps me to get to know lot of people. Especially cricket keep me busy.” Anyone’s life can be changed or altered by the determinants like media and high tech games. Simple life becomes very complex. Following the world cup victory in 1996 under the captaincy of Arjuna Ranathunga, who is the present chairman of the interim committee of cricket in Sri Lanka, the barriers eradicated and capital inflow into cricket started. The passion for cricket was evident among the people. The intention of the parents on their children shifted from education to cricket with the apparent material success.

When the English weekly “Sunday Observer” interviewed Ajantha Mendis, he responded to a question regarding the response from opposite sex. Mendis says “Quite a big and impressive response. Girls call me but I do not know how have they found my contact number. When girls see me they purposely look at me and smile with me. I don’t know them but I smile with them.”

How a simple man from Colombo suburb see the response from opposite sex. According to him it is a strange feeling, when a girl who never known smiles with him. He is surprised. It is the difference between media made Mendis and the true subject. Girls look at fictional Mendis and true Mendis speaks to the paper. On this issue he is very honest. However the question is how he manages to confront such situations in near future. It is not a task like clean bowls Yuvraj Singh with his “carom ball’. It is a real challenge for him, when think about the fate of the some well known personalities.

He has an unorthodox style of bowling. In a cricketing sense he has something extra than an orthodox spinner. It is his production. Consequently, batsmen keep falling to him. His grip is different. At the point of delivery he flicks the middle finger. Media yclept it as “carrom ball’. In cricket he has the ability to dethrone Pontings, Tendulkars and Pietersons. However in a social sense he is yet to be a star. Thus he has to procure more qualities to pickup desires of the others. This challenge is an impersonal one. Accordingly, it is very inhuman. We called it capital. It is the real challenge for the Ajantha Mendis in the era of consumption and bliss.