How to do "Doosra"

It is after long periods of studying the actions of the bowlers who do deliver the doosra that I have grouped the way it can be bowled into two main methods.

There are of course hybrids and variations. And sometimes there is an overlapping of technique between the doosra and the carrom ball. Some flick it while turning the hand – so is that carrom ball or a doosra? Difficult to say. But these two are the main variations as far as I am concerned:

Two main methods

      Out of the side of the hand and angled wrist

      Out of the back of the hand

Method 1: Side of the hand

Here is Saqlain bowling the first method

The grip for the doosra is identical to the standard off-spinner’s grip.

     Ø Grip

      The seam of the ball runs across the fingers and most of the spin imparted on the ball using the index and middle fingers.

      The ball should not be held too tightly and the thumb should be bent back in order to ensure that it is out of the way. 
Ø Release

      At the time of the release, the back of your hand should face towards square leg and your fingers should spin the ball similar to an off-break.

      The changed wrist position causes the ball to behave like a leg-break. This finger spin along with the rotation from the wrist and shoulder imparts the spin to leg-break.

      You can vary the pace for the doosra just like you can with your normal off-spinner.

It’s unnatural

      The bowl like this is very difficult. It is really tough to get your  wrist into that position without bending your arm.

Ø Surprise variation

      This method is best if you want to use the doosra as a surprise variation as the wrist action resembles the standard off-spinner action, and therefore easier to hide from the batsman.

      Therefore, it is effective in deceiving batsmen when they expect the ball to turn the other way. This is the method used by Saqlain Mushtaq.

Method 2: Over the back of the hand

The second method is the more common one, as it is slightly easier to bowl. It is the method used by Ajmal and Murali. Watch the video to see Ajmal bowl one.

A little tip about Ajmal’s doosra is that he he lifts his thumb way off the ball when he bowls the doosra. He has to get it out the way to make space for the ball to go over the wrist.

But, even though you can probably pick it that way the batsmen still seems to struggle!

Ø Grip

      The grip for the doosra is identical to the standard off-spinner’s grip. The seam of the ball runs across the fingers.

      The ball should not be held too tightly and the thumb should be bent back in order to ensure that it is out of the way.

      The seam will obviously come out scrambled this way.

   Just before release, the wrist is rotated so that the back of the hand faces1st slip.

      Thought the previous method was difficult?

      If you struggled with the previous method you might tie yourself in a knot with this one.

      This  is the way Murali and Ajmall does it. And unless you have wrists made of rubber you will struggle.

      Then again, I do not know you, and you just very well be born with wrists made for this method. So, by all means, give it a go.

Ø Stock delivery

      This method is best if you want to use the doosra as your stock delivery as is more obvious and easier to pick.

      It is not as effective as a surprise delivery as the action (at release of the ball) is quite different from the standard off-spin action

Ø Release

      The ball is released out of the back of the hand over the fingers with the fingers pointing to 1st slip just after release. The ball should be released with a whipping action and therefore a flexible wrist is essential. The spin is created by a combination of finger and wrist spin, as opposed to mostly finger spin/wrist angle in Method #1.

Ø Open up a bit

      For all you wannabe doosra bowlers out there, I can suggest that you open up your action slightly for this one.

      That will help you in flexing your wrist the right way to ensure you can get the ball angling to the off-side.

      Dropping your bowling shoulder will also assist you in getting the necessary flexibility to get your doosra going.