By Ayanjit Sen BBC correspondent in Delhi

Indian cricket officials are taking action to halt a decline in spin bowling standards.

Harbhajan Singh is the best of India's current spinners

A special 11-man panel, featuring some of India's great spinners of yesteryear, has been set up to identify and coach talented youngsters.

Bishan Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Erapalli Prasanna are among those involved, and the help of current leg-spinner Anil Kumble, one of only two men to take all 10 wickets in a Test innings, has also been enlisted.

Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said spin bowling in the country appeared to be a "decaying art".

Although youngsters like Amit Mishra have made it to the verge of the national squad, there are not enough spin bowlers putting pressure on regulars Harbhajan Singh and Kumble.

"In the past, the strength of spin bowling helped India win so many matches.

"But the performance of spinners with the exception of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh leaves much to be desired," said Dalmiya.

Indian cricket concentrated on alleviating a shortage of seam bowlers during the 1990s.

Bedi played 69 Tests for India, 22 of them as captain

A number of initiatives were introduced, including the establishment of a fast bowling clinic run by Australian great Dennis Lillee in Madras.

The various schemes have born fruit with players like Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra coming to the fore.

They now want to bring about a similar revival in spin bowling.

"It is a good decision taken by the cricket board," said Prasanna.

Ten of the top 12 Test wicket-takers on India's all-time list are spinners.

And only former seam bowling all-rounder Kapil Dev has taken more Test wickets than Kumble (349), Bedi (266) and Chandrasekhar (242).

The panel will meet for the first time on 30 May, which will lead to the establishment of a new spin bowling section at the National Cricket Academy.