Doosra - The wrong one

Ever since Saqlain (inventor/co-inventor?) invented the Doosra, it has been a topic of controversy. Bowlers who tried the Doosra were always under suspicion. Saqlain and Murali have been the greatest exponents of Doosra and have reaped rich rewards. Harbhajan had tremendous success against the Aussies, particularly Pointing with Dossra. Of course, his Doosras were called for suspect action. Personally, I feel that anyone bowling a good Doosra will always be under suspect as it is very difficult to bowl a Doosra without breaking laws on legal bowling action.

Speaking of Murali, I am not a great fan of his action. But I have been a secret admirer of his control and ability to pick up wickets even after the batsmen had the opportunity to study his bowling with advance video techniques that are available today. But this is the first time I came across details on his passion for the game and his preparation.

In his affable autobiography, Bully For You, Oscar (2000), Ian Austin, provides a lovely vignette of Murali's assimilation at Lancashire.

I've never known anyone who knew so much about cricket - or anyone who could talk about the game for so long. There's a hell of a lot of international cricket being played all year round these days, but Murali knew all about it. He knew more about Lancashire's record than Lancashire players themselves. We'd be sitting in the dressing room or in the bar in the evening at an away game and he'd suddenly start talking about one of our games from years back. He'd know all the facts and figures and couldn't believe that the rest of us didn't remember every last dot and comma of the game he was talking about.

Kudos to Murali. We might see him pick up close to 1000 wickets soon. This record might be most difficult one to beat in the long run.