There is something exotic about a leg-spinner.

The loop, the googly, the many variations and the unpredictability of it all keep batsmen as well as spectators guessing.

For a long time India has not had a genuine leg-spinner. Anil Kumble, many will argue, was India's man. But he is an unorthodox spinner, one who relies more on his topspinners and bounce than on actual leg-breaks.

But now a Haryana lad, Amit Mishra, 20, promises to change the way people look at leg-spin bowling in India.

"Leg spin," says Mishra, "is not an easy art to master and not many opt to become leg-spinners. That is why I decided to become one."

Mishra's rise has been gradual. He has climbed up the ranks, first making his presence felt when he claimed an astounding 56 wickets in seven games in the under-19 tournament in Haryana. From then on, he represented India in u-19 tournaments. And sure enough he found himself playing for India in Dhaka in April.

"I want to be the best in India and the only way to achieve that goal is to work hard."

In Dhaka though, Mishra was intimidated by the prospect of playing in his first senior international series and did not experiment too much. But he possesses all the weapons of a good leg-spinner. "I can bowl the googly, the flipper, the straighter one, the top-spinner," he says, "and even have a delivery that turns a long way. The only reason I did not use it in Dhaka was that I did not feel the need to."

Mishra's walk to the wicket bears an uncanny resemblance to that of Shane Warne, his idol. With Aavishkar Salvi idolising Glenn McGrath, the Indian attack could look very Australian in the near future.

But Mishra acknowledges that breaking into the Indian team is no easy task. Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble are without doubt the best spinners in India right now and to break their monopoly the challengers need to do something special. And there is a third threat looming in the domestic circuit: veteran leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani is not doing too badly either.

"We need to put pressure on Kumble," says Mishra. "That is the only way to break into the team. The competition is always there. Sarandeep Singh will also need to work hard to break in. Kumble and Harbhajan have played a lot of international cricket."

Mishra believes his biggest strength is his ability to bowl huge turners. The ability to bowl the sharply spinning delivery with regularity and accuracy sets him apart from the others, he says.

Some people have talked about Mishra's political connections and the role they have played in his career thus far. But Mishra refuses to comment on this matter. "My goal in the Challengers is very simple," he says. "To maintain the image that I have managed to build for myself. People think of me as a good leg-spinner and I do not wish to let them down."