The game of cricket becomes more exciting when a bowler surprises a batsman by pulling out something special from his kitty. There have been many innovations in the field by some talented bowlers. Here are such special innovations by the special men on the field:
1. Waqar Younis (Reverse Swing)
One bowler who was most lethal at the end of any cricket innings was Waqar Younis. He was one of the pacers who mastered the art of reverse swing – a difficult but very effective delivery that could be bowled with the old ball. Younis demolished numerous batting units with the delivery on numerous occasions.
2. Wasim Akram (Inswinging Yorker):
Wasim Akram was one of the most skillful and most legendary fast bowlers to have ever played the game of cricket. He was a champion of the in-swinging Yorker. One of the most lethal deliveries in cricket, Akram said that he would view the top of the stumps in order to get the ball to cut back in sharply and clobber the base.
3. Anil Kumble (Flipper)
Former Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble is arguably one of the best leg-spinners of all time and he achieved marvelous success with the flipper delivery. The ball generally pitches low after bouncing and many batsmen have been bowled or caught leg before wicket. It was a delivery very dear to Shane Warne as well.
4. Saqlain Mushtaq (Doosra)
One of the most inventive spinners of his era, Saqlain Mushtaq privileges to have invented the doosra, which is a ball that is in crux a leg-break ball but bowled with an off-break action. Mushtaq ruled the cricketing world for a while with his new innovation.
5. Zaheer Khan (Knuckle ball)
Former Indian pace, Zaheer Khan’s effective weapon was the knuckle ball that he had in stock whenever the situation necessitated. He would bowl the ball by pushing it with his knuckles and it would defeat batsmen who were expecting a faster one. A really powerful weapon, Zaheer used it to its fullest in the 2011 World Cup, one where he excelled with the ball.
6. DJ Bravo (Off-cutter)
West Indies pacer DJ Bravo has the ability to bowl accurate off cutters in death overs, which a pretty risky thing to do. He has mastered the delivery and took numerous scalps in slog overs with the delivery. The ball is spun from the hand of a pacer who hopes the batsman is expecting a faster one. The ball arrives later and clips the top of the stumps on most occasions.
7. Lasith Malinga (Slow Yorker)
One of the forerunners of death bowling, Lasith Malinga practically invented the slow Yorker – A kind of silly, a mazy delivery that reaches later than anticipated and leaves batsmen on the floor. Most batsmen are already done with playing the shot before the ball smashes the bails off. It is a smart delivery at any point.
8. Ajantha Mendis (Carrom ball)
There was a point in time where Ajantha Mendis was almost unplayable. He famously ran through the strong Indian batting order and won the Lankans a series at home. His carom ball was difficult to read for a batsman, thanks to the innovative way in which he used to bowl it. Exactly like hitting the striker in a carom board, Mendis would cuckold the batsmen and get them to play the wrong line and pick wickets with ease.
9. Mohit Sharma (Back of the hand)
Indian pacer Mohit Sharma has the ability to bowl a delivery that is so hard to pick up because it is bowled with a fast arm action; the slower one from him is one that he has used superbly well. A good death overs bowler, he bangs the slower one off the back of his hand whenever batsmen are looking to slog and have picked a few wickets too.
10. Sunil Narine (Top-spinner)
The Caribbean spinner Sunil Narine has multiple armaments in his armory – the carrom ball, doosra, and arm ball to say the least. However, it is his top-spinner that has the ability to slip off the surface and catch batsmen off-guard. There have been multiple occasions that he has pulled it out and this is what makes him such an effective bowler.
