Mendis? No problem, says Shukla

When you're struggling to pick a bowler out of his hand, the usual thing is to play him off the wicket. What was surprising was that many Indian batsmen did not pick his length early enough. The safest option, when you're not quite sure which way the ball will turn, is to play straight and some of our batsmen made the mistake of playing across the line and paid the price.

It's wrong to say Mendis is totally unorthodox. His grip is freaky, yes, but his run-up (a busy, shuffling gait), delivery stride and follow-through are technically very sound. Also, his biggest strength now, the straighter one which is closer to a flipper than a top-spinner, is possible only because he bowls with the shoulder, and has a perfect long-arm release. It's incredibly impressive and correct. He doesn't resort to the laxity in the ICC's elbow flexion rules for effect. He's a delight, the first person after Sachin Tendulkar I would pay to watch

“I was very curious and wanted to play him in the nets very next day. When he bowled to me, I played defensively to his first two balls. Because I had heard a lot about him, I focused a lot more on his hand when he was releasing the ball. Next thing I knew, I could easily tell which one was going to cut out and which was going to zip in. He tried all his variations, but I was picking the straighter one as well,” he says.