Sri Lankan mystery spinner retires, aged 34

Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis, the mystery spinner who took the cricket world by storm in his debut season more than a decade ago, has announced his retirement from all forms of the game at the age of just 34.

Mendis made his international debut against West Indies in a one-dayer in April 2008 but it was his remarkable haul of 6-13 against India in the Asia Cup final three months later that turned heads around the world.

His trademark ‘carrom balls’ - a disguised leg-break produced by flicking the ball between the thumb and the middle finger - left batsmen befuddled in the age of video analysis.

Mendis claimed 26 wickets in his maiden Test series against India, a record for a maiden three-match campaign, and also went on to become the fastest player to 50 ODI wickets, taking just 19 games.

He holds the record for the best figures in T20 international cricket for his haul of 6-8 against Zimbabwe in 2012. He also took 6-16 in a T20 match against Australia in 2011, becoming the only man to take two six-wicket hauls in T20 internationals.

He’s also the only man to have taken a six-wicket haul in all three forms of cricket at international level.

Mendis took seven wickets in six matches at the 2011 World Cup but soon lost his spot in the Sri Lanka team as batsmen began to read his variations, while injury also hindered his development.

He last played international cricket in 2015 in a one-dayer against New Zealand in Christchurch, his fall from grace highlighted by the fact he leaked 49 runs from five wicketless overs in that match.

He finished with 70 wickets in 19 Tests, 152 in 87 ODIs and 66 in 39 Twenty20s during an international career that spanned seven-and-a-half-years.