Ajantha Mendis has wasted no time in showing just how exciting a prospect he is for Sri Lanka. In the first Test he played a supporting role to Murali, but in the first innings here in Galle he bowled so well that he became our main strike bowler. The others played good supporting roles, but he was a threat throughout. He may have made a few mistakes but that is often the case when you are an attacking bowler and a wicket-taker like he is. He has been outstanding.

The Indian batsmen are still struggling to read him and his success is the result of his great variation and excellent control. It is rare to find a bowling with such an array of variations. But to find someone with his box of tricks and control is an amazing discovery.

Just as encouraging as his on-field exploits has been his character. He has been unfazed by the step-up to the international arena and has coped remarkably well with the media frenzy all around him. His a calm guy who is also a tough competitor and a hard-worker.

He has settled into the dressing room well. But, that is anyway one of our greatest assets as a team. We all tend to play a lot of cricket and train together which means we are all familiar with each other. We also have an atmosphere and structure within the team that is supportive of new players.Ajantha was also unruffled by Virender Sehwag’s assault. Shewag is a special talent and Ajantha was well-aware that Shewag is a risk-taker. He did not mind that runs were scored because he knew he could easily grab his wicket, as he came close to doing on a few occasions.

But hats off to Sehwag. You have to give credit when credit is due and to score 201 out of a 329 total is a special effort. We know that we didn’t bowl too well early on to him and we need to be more disciplined in the second innings. Hopefully, we’ll get him cheaply.

Two matches into the ICC’s referral experiment and I believe that there is a growing consensus is that the system is working. The bottom-line is that obvious mistakes have been corrected and the quality of decision-making has been high.

Concerns that technology would undermine the role of the on-field umpire have thus far proved misplaced. We have seen both teams conduct themselves responsibly on the field when requesting reviews and the result has been a positive atmosphere between umpires and players.

A pattern has started to emerge whereby the overturning of decisions will be rare. Only in the scenario where obvious mistakes have been made – like whether the ball pitched outside leg or in-line, or whether there was an inside edge onto pad – will decisions be overturned.

From what we have seen thus far, the technology is going to be most useful in assessing lbw’s and obvious bat-pads where the camera angles are right and they detect clear edges. However, our current technology is limited in its usefulness when handling thin edges to the wicketkeeper, less obvious bat-pads and low catches. Television pictures are often inconclusive for all three areas.

The question now for the ICC is whether we look at employing different technologies to help with faint nicks. Players and umpires I have spoken to have concerns about Snicko. The problem is that it picks up any noise – from bat, pad, boot – and then you need to match that noise to the television pictures. This creates too much room for error.

However, Hot Spot is promising as it clearly picks up the point of impact. It, however, needs to be thoroughly tested and I believe the ICC is already doing this. Initial feedback on the circuit is good. Assuming Hot Spot could be used in all series, this could clear-up a big grey area.

In the case of low catches I suspect that the prevalent pattern will remain the same. We know that cameras don’t always tell the full story and the decision will go with the batsman more often than not if referred. I don’t think there is another option because taking the fielders word will never work. As a fielder, you cannot always be sure.