There is a dearth of spinners around the world. Muttiah Muralitharan, Anil Kumble, Daniel Vettori and Harbhajan Singh are the only seasoned spinners in world cricket right now. Danish Kaneria from Pakistan, Bangladesh’s Abdur Razzak and the England’s Monty Panesar are the only other prominent ones. Proteas spinner Paul Harris and the Aussie Beau Casson haven’t shown anything promising.

Amidst all this comes our way a series where all the focus is on spin. Apart from Muralitharan, Kumble and Harbhajan - who are the three best spinners in the world currently - the man making the headlines is the spin world’s latest sensation - Ajantha Mendis.

These four bowlers are entirely different in their styles and this will make for a varied menu. Murali off spins the ball with his wrist and has a big turning “Doosra” that comes from the back of his hand. He has turned the ball square on most pitches of the world but it will be the variable bounce on the Ceylon pitches that will make him deadly.

Kumble is an unorthodox leg spinner. He bowls finger leg spin but his arm comes from right above his head which gives him less turn but more bounce. The less amount of turn is what makes his googly lethal. Two balls will pitch on the same spot and, while one may take an outside edge, the other can whisk in between bat and pad. He bowls a faster ball that bounces very high. This ball that suddenly gets big on the batsmen is what got him the nickname “Jumbo”. He also bowls a “Zooter”, which is like a fast bowler’s yorker.

Harbhajan Singh bowls his finger off spinners just outside the off stump of right-handers and then suddenly pushes through a “Doosra” which takes the outside edge and, 99 times out of 100, is safely pouched by Rahul Dravid. He also bowls a straighter one that doesn’t turn either way and has got many leg before verdicts in his favour.

But the man creating the waves is the new Sri Lankan “Carom Flicker” Mendis. He bowls off spinners, leg spinners both with fingers as well as his wrist - but the big sensation is the ball which he flicks with his fingers. He has two such balls up his sleeve, one which he flicks with his index finger and the other which he flicks with his middle finger.

The Indian batsmen could not read Mendis in the Asia Cup final in June but here he will be up against Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, all of whom are among the top eight or ten spin players in the world. They would want to tame him and once again show their supremacy.

If the series showcases the best spinners in the world, it also features some of the best players of spin in the world. The result of the series that begins tomorrow is likely to be a reflection of how these four spinners bowl fare - and how well the batsmen can tackle them.

India would like to think that they have an upper hand with Kumble and Harbhajan in their side and the world’s strongest middle order. But, unless the pitches offer help for the spinners, the bowlers from both sides may struggle to take 20 wickets in a match.