The Sri Lankan Army has rewarded Ajantha Mendis after he destroyed the Indian batting line up in the Asia Cup final.

The 23 year old Mendis, a gunner, was promoted to 2nd lieutenant by President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Mendis wreaked havoc on India's famed batting line up with stunning figures of six for 13 as Sri Lanka successfully defended the Asia Cup.

Mendis, who spun a mysterious web around all the opposition teams eventually finished with 17 wickets in the tournament.

"I am delighted to have played a part in Sri Lanka's victory," Mendis said after returning from Pakistan.

"I just want to bowl as best as I can every time I come to the bowling crease. I did that on Sunday."

Mendis uses an unusual grip in which he apparently squeezes the ball out of his fingers, bowling off-spin, leg-spin, googly, the top-spinner and the flipper.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted that none of his batsmen could pick up Mendis.

"We just could not read him and we knew he was a surprise bowler," he said.

"You need to be there in the middle to understand what he bowls. It was tough to pick his deliveries. It is not that the batsmen played badly, they played expecting something and the ball did something else."

India will face Mendis again when they tour Sri Lanka from next week for three Tests and five one-day internationals.

However, Dhoni has promised India's seasoned batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, saurav Ganguly and VVS Laxman will sort Mendis out and demolish him.

The two nations play their first Test on July 23 in Colombo.