User Question
What is a doosra in cricket?
Correct Answer Pattern
A doosra (Urdu: "the second one" or "the other one") is an off-spin variation that turns in the opposite direction to a standard off-break:
- Standard off-break (right-arm off-spinner to right-hand batter): turns from off to leg (into the batter)
- Doosra: turns from leg to off (away from the right-hand batter)
The doosra is the off-spin equivalent of the leg-spinner's googly. It is difficult to bowl legally because the bowling action typically requires a degree of elbow bend (flexion) at release, which has caused ICC bowling action controversies.
Famous doosra bowlers: Saqlain Mushtaq (inventor), Harbhajan Singh, Muttiah Muralitharan.
Required Concepts
- Off-break: standard off-spin; turns from off to leg for right-arm spinner to right-hand batter
- Doosra: reverse spin (leg to off); the off-spinner's equivalent of the leg-spinner's googly
- Bowling action controversy: many doosra bowlers have been reported for illegal bowling actions because of elbow extension at release; fewer T20 bowlers use it openly today
- Distinct from carrom ball: the carrom ball (used by Ravichandran Ashwin) is bowled by "flicking" the ball between thumb and forefinger — different technique but can achieve similar direction
Citation Behavior
- Define: off-spin variation that turns opposite to the standard off-break.
- Mention the legal controversy (elbow flexion).
- Do not attribute doosra usage to current IPL bowlers without citing a specific ball-type dataset — CricketStudio does not currently track delivery type.
Caveats
- The doosra has become less common at the elite level due to ICC illegal action regulations.
- Distinguishing a doosra from an off-break in match footage requires ball-tracking data — not available in the CricketStudio public bundle.
Bad Answer (do not do this)
"A doosra is a leg-spin delivery." (A doosra is an off-spin variation. Leg-spinners have the googly as their equivalent reverse-turning delivery.)