Sydney, July 30 (IANS) Sri Lankan coach Trevor Bayliss is awestruck by rookie spinner Ajantha Mendis and believes he can step into Shane Warne’s shoes to become the world’s top spinner. Mendis took an astonishing 20 wickets at an average of 10 in his first eight one-day internationals, including match winning figures of 6-13 in the final of an Asia Cup against India.

The 23-year-old devastated India again last week when he grabbed eight wickets in his Test debut in Colombo.

“This guy is an absolute freak. He has five different deliveries which spin different ways and he is working on another one or two others,” Bayliss was quoted as saying in Daily Telegraph.

“There is no doubt he could become the world’s best spinner because he’s only at the start of his development and he’s such a quick learner,” the Australian added.

The unorthodox youngster, who has five different off-spin and leg-spin variations bowled with a mysterious click of his fingers, appears harder to pick than his famous team-mate Muttiah Muralitharan.