Former Pakistan offie is willing to teach troubled Aussies the art of negotiating the 'doosra'
Former Pakistan offie is willing to teach troubled Aussies the art of negotiating the 'doosra'
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Saqlain Mushtaq, the Pakistani off-spinner who took 208 wickets in a career spanning 49 Tests, yesterday offered his services as coach to the Australians who were bewitched, bothered and bewildered by the mysterious web of the 'doosra' spun by Saqlain's chela Saeed Ajmal in the first ODI in Dubai last week.
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Former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq in action during his playing days |
Along with man-of-the-match Shahid Afridi, Ajmal bowled the Pakistanis to a convincing four-wicket victory in the first ODI thanks largely to the inability of Australia's top-order batsmen to fathom Ajmal's 'doosra'.
Deceptive weapon
The 'doosra', increasingly a deceptive weapon in an off-spinner's armoury today, spins the other way from leg to off when delivered with the classical off-break action.
Although the Australian batsmen have been able to unravel, to some extent, the mysteries of Ajmal's 'doosra' as a result of study and analysis, match-winners Michael Clarke and Callum Ferguson struggled to differentiate between his off-breaks and 'doosras' in Australia's back-to-back victories last week.
Australian off-spinners such as Nathan Hauritz, Jason Krejza and Dan Cullen have had problems making the ball go away from right-handed batsmen, although they are now able to make it go straight through.
Unlike supple bowlers from the Indian sub-continent, the Australians' main obstacles stem from lack of physical flexibility and the need for a front-on approach at the bowling crease, since Australian coaches insist on a side-on one.
Hauritz has complained of severe discomfort when bowling the freak ball and restricts his 'doosra' to only about 10 three times a week.
Despite the history of exponents of the 'doosra', from Harbhajan Singh, Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralitharan and Pakistani Shoaib Malik to South African Johan Botha contravening ICC rules, which prohibit elbow flexion of more than 15 degrees, the Pakistani great maintains it is possible to bowl the 'doosra' without breaching the law.
Saqlain, who now sports the flowing beard popular with his former Test teammates Saeed Anwar, Inzamamul Haq and Mohammed Yousuf (formerly Yousuf Yohanna), says the whole body, particularly the front foot, is essential to keeping the 'doosra' within legal limits.
"When you plant the front foot, use your shoulders and lock the wrist; you can do it without bending the arm," Saqlain says.
"But if here is a problem in the front foot, in the wrist or in the balance, then you can't take it."
(Source: The Sydney Morning Herald).
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