NEW DELHI, Aug 22: Former India spin great Bishen Singh Bedi says Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis has the potential to claim 500 career wickets, and is excited by the way the baffling bowler has invigorated the art of spin.

Bedi said Mendis is a delight to watch, even though the Sri Lankan newcomer’s success had come at the expense of Bedi’s native India in the current tour.

“His variation seems unreal, he could snare 500 wickets by the time people are able to figure him out,” Bedi stated. “There are a few quality spinners on the horizon, and I’m a great admirer of the spinning craft exhibited by Mendis.”

Mendis, 23, has the beguiling and rare ability to deliver both off-breaks and leg-breaks with little change to his action, forcing batsmen to guess which way the ball would turn.

In the recent Test series, Mendis claimed 26 scalps to break the long-standing world record for the most wickets in a debut three-Test series and lead Sri Lanka to a 2-1 series victory. He has continued that form in the ongoing One-day International series, claiming five wickets in the opening two games to take his tally to 25 wickets in 10 games.

“He’s not looking for dot balls, he’s looking for a wicket with every delivery,” said Bedi, who took a then Indian record of 266 wickets from 67 Tests.“The way he bamboozled India’s batsmen in the Tests was amazing.”

Bedi’s celebration of Mendis came in marked contrast to the his regular strong criticism of Sri Lanka’s Test world-record wicket taker Muttiah Muralitharan, whom he had often accused of “chucking” by bending his arm in the bowling action.

Teaming up with Muralitharan, Test rookie Mendis had confounded Indian batsmen of the calibre of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly.

Former India captain Ajit Wadekar said Mendis’ destruction of the much-vaunted Indian batting line-up demonstrated that even the world’s top batsmen were losing the ability to play top spinners due to underexposure to the longer form of the game.

“The Indian batsmen have come across a pair of top class spinners after a long time,” said Wadekar. “They’ll have to concentrate more and plan better to save themselves from embarrassment.”—AP