Rediff

Colombo, Sep 11: Sri Lanka's unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis has said that during his meteoric rise in international cricket, master blaster Sachin Tendulkar was the most prized wicket, while Virender Sehwag the toughest to bowl to.

Mendis, who notched up from just three Tests wsith 26 wickets apart from pocketing 33 wickets from 13 One-dayers, is one of the nominees for the International Cricket Council Emerging Player of the Year award.

Asked whose wicket does he cherished the most, Mendis said ''Sachin Tendulkar's wicket is the best among all. I could not get his wicket in the first two matches and felt I might not be able to get him out. Finally, I got him in the second innings of the last Test and thus, stopped him from making a world record.''

In his opinion, the master blaster was however, not the toughest batsman to bowl to. Instead, he rates Sehwag the toughest among all the Indians, who are generally good players against spin.

''Sehwag tried to take too many chances against me and I had to bowl at good areas to contain him,'' he told the Gulf News.

He added that the series against India added to his confidence.

''Before the series, everyone told me that Indians are the best players of spin. So, it turned out to be a big challenge for me.

When I got the Indian batsmen out, it added to my confidence.

''My goal now is to try and work hard and go on to do well against all countries,'' he added.