‘Doosra’ troubled Sachin-Sehwag, how did the ball get this name? The bowler also bled for this

New Delhi. Former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq is counted among the all-time great off-spinners. Saqlain had dismissed big batsmen during his cricket career. The ‘second ball’ that Ravichandran Ashwin or other off-spinners are using today after Harbhajan Singh was invented by Saqlain. This ball looks like a normal off break. But, for a right-handed batsman, it goes outside like leg-spin. During his career, Saqlain also troubled batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag a lot on his ‘second ball’. Now how did this ball get another name and how Saqlain Mushtaq invented this ball. Its story is very interesting.

Saqlain Mushtaq recently made many interesting revelations about his ‘Doosra’ on Pakistan’s YouTuber Nadir Ali’s show. Saqlain had told during the conversation that who had named this special ball of his as ‘Doosra’.

Full credit for the name ‘Doosra’ to Moin Khan: Saqlain
Saqlain said, “I will give full credit to Moin Khan for the name ‘Doosra’ of this ball. When I used to bowl, he used to be the wicketkeeper. He told me that when I tell you then you have to throw the second ball. His talk was recorded in the stump mic, which went directly to the commentary box. From there the commentator started calling this ball or delivery different. Later, ‘Doosra’ was also recorded in English dictionary and cricket book.

‘Wanted to be like Imran Khan’
During the same interview, Saqlain Mushtaq also told how he invented ‘Doosra’, different from the normal off break, while playing with his brothers on the terrace of the house. Mushtaq said, “There was a ground near my house where Imran Khan and Abdul Qadir used to play. Then Qadir was considered the magician of spin and Imran also had his own status. At the same time, I had thought that I too have to make a similar name in cricket. With this thought I invented another.

‘Invented the ‘second ball’ on the terrace’
Mushtaq further said, “I used to play with a table tennis ball on the terrace. We used to tie tape on it and then hold it with different grips and throw the ball. In the meantime, a ball instead of a normal off-break got leg-spin. That’s where it all started. In the same period, we also learned carrom ball. But, we have never tried it with a cricket ball. Because of this pain starts in the joint of the fingers. However, it was not easy to bowl the second ball as well. Because of this also Saqlain Mushtaq’s fingers got very bloody.

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Mushtaq played 49 Tests, 169 ODIs for Pakistan. In this, he took 208 wickets and 288 wickets in ODIs.

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