What is Doosra in cricket? Meaning, History & How it works

A ‘doosra’ is a type of delivery in cricket bowled by an off-break bowler, which turns the other way than the traditional off-spinner, to outfox the batter. It's the equivalent of a leg-spinner's googly for the off-spinners. Former Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq is called the 'pioneer of doosra', credited with bowling the delivery for the first time in international cricket. However, the invention of doosra is linked to Pakistani domestic cricketer Prince Aslam Khan.

After Saqlain Mushtaq made a name for himself by bamboozling batters with doosra, several bowlers also learnt the trick and added it to their repertoire, with the big names including Sri Lankan legend Muthiah Muralidaran, former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, and South Africa's Johan Botha. In Pakistan, Shoaib Malik and Saeed Ajmal carried the legacy of the delivery into the 21^st century.

The ‘doosra’ term was coined by former Pakistan wicketkeeper Moin Khan, who was often heard asking Saqlain Mushtaq to bowl the ‘doosra’, which means the ‘other one’ in Urdu, from behind the stumps. Former England cricketer Tony Greig linked the word to the delivery and even asked Saqlain Mushtaq about it in a post-match interview, who confirmed its nomenclature. 

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How is doosra delivered?

Doosra is delivered with the same action as a regular off-spinner to add to its mystery and avoid giving away any hints to the batter. The bowler locks the wrist and uses the index and ring fingers instead of the usual index and middle fingers, which allows the ball to spin in the opposite direction.

As a result, the delivered ball spins from the leg side to the off side for a right-handed batter, the complete opposite direction of an off-spinner.

The controversy around doosra

Like most things in cricket, the doosra was also met with controversy as almost all bowlers who attempted to bowl the delivery after Mushtaq were accused of bending the arm more than the permissible limit set by the International Cricket Council (ICC).  

Muralidaran’s doosra became a subject of contention following an official report by match referee Chris Broad during Australia's tour of Sri Lanka in 2004. It was found that the Sri Lankan spinner was exceeding the permissible guidelines of the arm-bend, which constitutes an ‘illegal action’.

He underwent biomechanical tests conducted at the University of Western Australia in Perth, which revealed that Muralidaran was straightening his arm by up to 10 degrees before delivering the doosra, which was well outside the ICC’s guideline of 5 degrees for spin bowlers.

As a result, Muralidaran was instructed by Sri Lanka Cricket not to bowl the doosra in international cricket for a brief period. Following a thorough research into illegal bowling actions in November 2004, the ICC found out that many bowlers of the era, like Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Shaun Pollock, whose actions seemed legitimate, were actually surpassing the 5-degree guideline.

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ICC brings a change in rules

Later, the ICC proposed a change in the rule, which was accepted at a meeting of ICC chief executives in early 2005. As per the new guidelines, bowlers were allowed to straighten the arm up to 15, and Muralidaran's doosra once again became a legal delivery.

Chris Broad had also submitted a report analysing former India spinner Harbhajan Singh’s action, alongside on-field umpires Aleem Dar and Mark Benson and TV umpire Mahbubur Rahman after the second Test between India and Bangladesh at Chittagong in December 2004.

It was found that his arm is straightened by angles of up to 10 degrees, 5 degrees within the new ICC tolerance levels. Apart from them, Shoaib Malik, Johan Botha and Saeed Ajmal's actions came under scrutiny for bowling doosra. 

Despite its controversial past, the doosra remains a widely used weapon by off-spinners in world cricket to outfox players in the batter-dominated modern-day cricket.