Pak Cricketer Saqlain Mushtaq proud to be associated with doosra

Dhaka, 1 April-2014, Taus Rizvi: Former Pakistan off-spinner, now helping West Indies spinners, not concerned about the controversial delivery as long as ICC has no problems with it.

Pak Cricketer Saqlain Mushtaq proud to be associated with doosra


Saqlain Mushtaq (C) with the West Indies’ spinners Sunil Narine (L) and Samuel Badree AP

Off-spinner’s doosra has been a controversial topic and has attracted criticism from all corners. Some say it cannot be bowled without bending the arm. Spin legends like Bishan Singh Bedi have even called for a ban on doosra after Sri Lankan ace Muttiah Muralitharan retired and questioned its legality.

But the inventor of the disguise delivery that comes from the back of the off-spinner’s hand, Saqlain Mushtaq of Pakistan, is not concerned about the negative response. Instead, he is “proud” to have invented something like that.

Currently coaching the West Indies bowling unit, Mushtaq will be on the opposite camp when the Darren Sammy-led West Indies take on Pakistan in a do-or-die Group 2 clash of the ICC World Twenty20 tournament at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium on Tuesday.

Mushtaq said: “To be honest, I never think that way. I always praise and feel proud that somebody is using doosra or carrom ball. If anything (new) is coming into world of cricket, I feel good. And, I always appreciate and admire them. This is ICC’s duty to look and if they are saying everything is good, then we should appreciate that. We should not put a question mark on that. If somebody is bringing something new, I feel good about it,” he said on Monday.

The 37-year-old believed it’s an honour for him to be associated with doosra. “I thank God when they mention doosra and my name in the same sentence. I never give a thought about people leaving a question mark when bowlers wear full sleeve to bowl doosra in matches,” he added.

Mushtaq said he was happy that spinners have been doing well in the shorter format and also praised India’s Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra. “Obviously they (Ashwin and Mishra) are bowling well and if you see the Nos. 1 and 2 in T20, they are from West Iindies – Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine. Badree opens the bowling and whenever the spinners do well, I feel good. Batting coaches have to come up with something new against the spinners. They are bowling with great control and giving lot of trouble to the batsmen,” he said.

Mushtaq, who played in 49 Tests and 169 ODIs for Pakistan, said that he will be backing the West Indies as he is their coach and wearing the Caribbean jersey. “I can’t predict anything as to who will win. Obviously, my wishes are with my team and it’s the West Indies at the moment,” he said. [source input: dnaindia]