The Lankan had arrived in Kolkata with a special reputation, for a bargain price, after a successful debut in the West Indies, but Shukla, who played a couple of crucial knocks in the Knight Riders’s stuttering campaign, hit him for six or seven big ones in the first net session Mendis was part of, and walked out to applause from the likes of John Buchanan for the simplicity with which he had taken Mendis apart.

“There was an optional practice for our team that I didn’t go for. At night, my team mates told me that there was a good bowler who had arrived from Sri Lanka. They told me that he had a great variety and that he was someone special.

The fact that it was only a net session could have made a difference, but Shukla insists he didn’t find the going too tough. “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.

Shukla’s effort in the nets allowed his team mates to play him freely as well, something that helped shed that ‘mysterious player’ tag. So much so that despite joining the Knight Riders as a mid-season signing to shore up their ‘foreign player’ resources following the departure of Ricky Ponting, Brad Hodge, Brendan McCullum, as also injuries to Chris Gayle and later, Shoaib Akhtar, Mendis still only got to play in a single game.

He also felt the Indian batsmen wouldn’t find it too hard to deal with the Lankan once they figured him out. “Once I got on top of him, he started bowling all over the place. I don’t remember very clearly, but I hit him for six or seven big ones. When I came out, John Buchanan told me I played him really well. I was happy as it was a challenge that I had thrown myself into... and won.”

The 27-year old, who has been in great form with the bat this season says the trick to countering Mendis is to play the ball as late as possible. “I would say you have to play the ball very late, but more importantly, you have to try and pick him from his hand.”