Some are ‘wrong footed’, some are ‘slinga’… bowlers with strange actions have achieved a lot of success

New Delhi. Be it bowling or batting in the game of cricket, watching some players perform gives a strange sense of satisfaction. Talking about batting, the style of playing shots of players like Sachin Tendulkar, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Babar Azam is captivating. Similarly, the rhythm of Brett Lee, Zaheer Khan, Dale Steyn and Wasim Akram during bowling was worth watching. Among the current bowlers, there is also rhythm in the action of Jofra Archer, Naseem Shah and Kagiso Rabada. Apart from this, there are some batsmen and bowlers whose playing style may not be charming but they have been ruling the hearts of the fans with their brilliant performance.

In batting, Steve Smith and K. Srikanth can be placed in this category. In the bowling department too, some former and present players have been the center of discussion due to their strange actions. Prominent among them are Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga, Pakistan’s Sohail Tanvir, India’s Jaspreet Bumrah and South Africa’s Paul Adams. Malinga, who has retired from international cricket, used to have his/her hand ‘horizontal’ instead of above the shoulder while throwing the ball. Similarly, ‘Chinaman’ Adams used to turn his/her head towards the ground while delivering the ball.

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Let’s take a look at the bowlers who gained fame due to their strange actions.,

Lasith Malinga : Sri Lankan bowler Lasith Malinga, who has a round arm action, used to bowl with his/her hand coming close to the umpire’s face instead of above the shoulder. In such a situation, the batsman needed to adjust the sight screen afresh while facing his/her ball. Due to this strange action, he/she got the nickname ‘Slinga Malinga’. Due to this unique action, it was not easy for the batsmen to read Malinga’s yorker. Sri Lanka’s best fast bowler of all time, Malinga, has taken more than 100 wickets in Tests as well, but he/she was more successful in ODIs and T20Is. he/she has three hat-tricks to his/her name in ODIs and two in T20Is. Not only this, he/she has also achieved the feat of taking 4 wickets in four balls in ODIs and T20Is. Malinga, who took 338 wickets in 226 ODIs at an average of 28.87 and 107 wickets in 84 T20Is at an average of 20.79, took 101 wickets in 30 Tests at an average of 33.15.

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Jasprit Bumrah: Jasprit Bumrah, who has become India’s ‘troubleshooter’ in bowling, took 15 wickets in 8 matches of T20 World Cup 2024. During this, his/her average was 8.26 and economy was 4.17. Currently, it would be more correct to call the action of Bumrah, the world’s best bowler in all three formats, ‘different or unorthodox’ rather than strange. While delivering the ball, his/her ‘release point’ is also ahead of other bowlers. During bowling, his/her left hand also remains forward instead of going completely up. Due to his/her action, he/she is able to give speed to the balls from a short run-up. It is very difficult for the batsmen to read the balls of Bumrah, who has a sling arm action. While playing for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, he/she has made his/her bowling more sharp by mastering the yorker under the guidance of Malinga. Bumrah’s biggest strength is to be very accurate. By quickly understanding the mood of the pitch, like a robot, he/she puts the batsmen to a tough test by bowling hard length balls at the same spot. Bumrah has so far taken 159 wickets in 36 Tests at an average of 20.69, 149 wickets in 89 ODIs at an average of 23.55 and 89 wickets in 70 T20Is at an average of 17.74.

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Sohail Tanvir: Pakistan’s left-arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir was also known for his/her strange action. he/she was a ‘wrong-footed’ bowler. While bowling, his/her left foot remained completely in the air instead of on the ground. Due to this bowling action, Tanvir got the nickname ‘Fan’ in the Pakistani cricket world. However, this action became Tanvir’s strength. Due to his/her strange action, the batsman had difficulty concentrating on his/her balls. he/she was quite successful in ODIs and T20s. Apart from bringing the ball in and taking it out, Tanvir was also adept at throwing yorkers. he/she took 71 wickets in 62 ODIs at an average of 36.14 and 54 wickets in 57 T20Is at an average of 26.92. Playing for Rajasthan Royals in the first season of IPL, he/she took 22 wickets and captured the Purple Cap.

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Paul Adams: In the 1990s and 2000s, South Africa’s ‘Chinaman’ bowler Paul Adams ‘entertained’ fans with his/her strange action. While bowling, Adams used to jump forward from a short run-up, during which he/she also jerked his/her neck. Left-arm wrist spinner Adams’ head used to be towards the ground while throwing the ball. During the release point, his/her eyes were on the ground instead of the batsman. It seemed that due to this action, he/she would not be able to change the ball in case the batsman ‘stepped out’. Former England captain Mike Gatting had defined this strange action of Adams as ‘frog in a blender’. Adams, who played international cricket from 1995 to 2004, took 134 wickets in 45 Tests and 29 wickets in 24 ODIs. Karnataka’s Shivil Kaushik, who played for Gujarat Lions in IPL 2016, also had a bowling action similar to Adams. Shivil also used to shake his/her neck while bowling.

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Debashish Mohanty : India’s batsman who gets a lot of swing Debashish Mohanty (Debashish Mohanty)’s bowling action was also different from other bowlers. While throwing the ball, both his/her hands were in a strange position. his/her bowling action was also selected for the graphic logo of the 1999 World Cup. Referring to Mohanty’s action, Sachin Tendulkar had told in a TV show that in the Sahara Cup ODI series against Pakistan in Canada, Mohanty had troubled many Pakistani batsmen including Saeed Anwar. Sachin said, ‘In the first four matches of this five-match series, ‘Debu’ had dismissed Anwar. There was a function after four matches. On this occasion, Saeed Anwar asked me – yaar. What kind of a man is this Debashish? he/she comes running and bowls such a ball. The ball I leave goes in and the one I play goes out. I don’t know what to do. It is fine, he/she asks in his/her bowling action that do you know…what ball am I going to bowl, then I (Anwar) say that I really don’t know. There was a question in his/her action itself.’ Sachin told that in the 5th match of the series also Debashish had dismissed Anwar.

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Jeff Thomson: Australia’s legendary fast bowler Jeff Thomson was known not only for his/her speed but also for his/her strange action. In a way, he/she was the first bowler in world cricket with a slinging action. However, this action put a lot of pressure on his/her body. West Indies’ great batsman Viv Richards had said in an interview that ‘Thomson’ was the fastest bowler among all the bowlers he/she faced in his/her international career. Thomson, who was also in the news due to his/her aggressive statements, took 200 wickets in 51 Tests and 55 wickets in 50 ODIs between 1972 and 1985.

Apart from these bowlers, the bowling action of non-regular Indian bowlers Virat Kohli and Kedar Jadhav can also be classified as weird. Virat is a wrong-footed bowler while Kedar Jadhav used to bowl by keeping his/her hand very far to the side. Due to this, his/her balls did not get much bounce. Jadhav retired from cricket only last month.

tag: Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Wall