Difference Between Googly and Doosra ??

jkartik

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guys,

i am really confused. can anyone explain in detail the difference between
a googly and a doosra ?? and if i am not wrong..doosra is used
only by the sub-continent players right ?

cheers
 
The googly is for the leg-spinner when he gets to turn it into the right hander(in other words an off spin sort of delivery being bowled by the leg spinner),whereas the doosra is just the opposite where the offspiin bowler turns it away from the right hander(in other words a leg spin sort of delivery being bowled by the off spinner).Hope that clears up some of the confusion.
 
jk16_4 said:
guys,

i am really confused. can anyone explain in detail the difference between
a googly and a doosra ?? and if i am not wrong..doosra is used
only by the sub-continent players right ?

cheers
Sid has got it right. As for only being used by sub-continental players, this isn't true. Whilst it tends to be easier for players from the sub-continent to bowl it, as people from that part of the world tend to have more flexible wrists, some players from elsewhere do bowl it, Alex Loudon being one example that springs to mind.
 

Googly - Legspinners delivery that turns the other way in disguise

Doosra - Offspiners delivery that turns the other way in disguise

Here, I made a picture :)
 

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The doosra is more deceptive than a googly, isn't it? Anyway, what Sid said is spot-on! Now, can anyone explain to me how to bowl a doosra, & the googly?
 
I think Murali's doosra is more deceptive because of his wrists. Apparently Vettori learnt the doosra, but said he had to change his action to get it right, therefore less deceptive. A guy in my cricket team can bowl a doosra and says he needs to change his action a lot to get it right.

I think it just depends on the bowler how deceptive the delivery is.
 
viral1991 said:
The doosra is more deceptive than a googly, isn't it? Anyway, what Sid said is spot-on! Now, can anyone explain to me how to bowl a doosra, & the googly?


It's only as deceptive as the bowler who uses it.
 

To bowl the doosra deceptively, you really need an action where its hard for the batsman to see the bowlers grip or hand movement like Muralidaran. If your arm action is slow and gives them a clear vision of your action, they can pick doosras from regular deliveries. Muralidaran is quick and flicky, hard to see what he has up his sleeve.

As a club off-spinner myself, I have taught myself how to bowl a doosra and have developed a bit of accuracy and legality in the ball, but the problem is the batsman can easily tell it apart from a regular offie - something I need to work on. Generally, you just hold the ball with all fingers and give it a good flick out the back of your hand and it should spin the other way. You can't do this with a straight elbow though, it has to bent a bit to give it some spin. I would suggest working on it for a year or two before using it in a game!
 
andrew_nixon said:
Sid has got it right. As for only being used by sub-continental players, this isn't true. Whilst it tends to be easier for players from the sub-continent to bowl it, as people from that part of the world tend to have more flexible wrists, some players from elsewhere do bowl it, Alex Loudon being one example that springs to mind.


Alex Loudon's doosra isn't really a doosra like Murali and Harbhajan bowl where to twsit their arm, Loudon just rolls his fingers off the other side.

Another thing is that googlys turn a fair bit, Doosra very rarely turn away.
 
The same could be said about orthodox legspinners and orthodox offspinners. The legspinners can turn it much more.
 
I think that the doosra is actually bowling from the back of the hand, which is pretty similar to a googly except that the wrist is turned in the opposite direction. It's also pretty hard to bowl a doosra with a straight elbow.
 
Azza! said:

To bowl the doosra deceptively, you really need an action where its hard for the batsman to see the bowlers grip or hand movement like Muralidaran. If your arm action is slow and gives them a clear vision of your action, they can pick doosras from regular deliveries. Muralidaran is quick and flicky, hard to see what he has up his sleeve.

As a club off-spinner myself, I have taught myself how to bowl a doosra and have developed a bit of accuracy and legality in the ball, but the problem is the batsman can easily tell it apart from a regular offie - something I need to work on. Generally, you just hold the ball with all fingers and give it a good flick out the back of your hand and it should spin the other way. You can't do this with a straight elbow though, it has to bent a bit to give it some spin. I would suggest working on it for a year or two before using it in a game!
Have you thought of covering up the ball right until the point of delivery?
 
Sureshot said:
Have you thought of covering up the ball right until the point of delivery?

you are joking honestly.

harishankar said:
I think that the doosra is actually bowling from the back of the hand, which is pretty similar to a googly except that the wrist is turned in the opposite direction. It's also pretty hard to bowl a doosra with a straight elbow.

hari got it right.to bowl doosra you need to release it from back of hand.
the problem and the reason only two people bowl it is power.

If u try to bowl from back of hand, u can't use shoulders to produce power.hence bowlers have to bend there arm to generate sufficient force to enable it to reach the batsmen.and this is the root of problems.

However, I don't think anyone in your community will be watching u.:pSo here's how u do it.

first of all, u need finger control.
try moving (any) of your finger to base of thumb(the little mountain) and press the third joint (counting from base) with your thumb.
then try to straighten your other three fingers, if u can do it you are more than ready.

Remember that your little finger is necessary to bowl it.

When u try to ball it, remember that your palm should face skywards and fingers open towards slips and after a little experience towards 2nd slip.

The power and spin is determined how quickly open you fingers.while direction is determined by the little finger.

And when u initially bowl it, u will generally get nice amount of pain in your fingers and wrists, because it puts a lot of tension on them.

Anyway, good luck doing it!!:cheers
 
I can bowl a good doosra! Seriously. I haven't got hyperextension or anything. I bowl it like my normal off break but I change the angle of my wrist so that the ball almost comes from the back of my hand (not quite). I've only started practising it a couple of months ago, and I can get it with good accuracy now.Not all of them actually turn the other way, some are just top spinners.

I got one wicket where I was bowling in the nets last week and the ball pitched just outside legstump and the batman left it, thinking it would be a wide. Instead, it turned and just kissed legstump on it's way. My best ball ever! Yes, it was true, I'm not making this up. I can bowl a decent googly as well, but it isn't very accurate (that's when I occasionaly bowl legspin).
 

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