Watch: Bowler imitates “Lagaan” bowling action, video goes viral

Street Cricket (Image Credit : Twitter)

There have been quite a few players who have had an unusual bowling action over the years. Players such as Paul Adams, Lasith Malinga, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivik Kaushik, Sohail Tanvir, Kedar Jadhav, Jasprit Bumrah, etc have had unorthodox actions. Fans might also remember the ‘Aamir Khan’ starrer film ‘Lagaan’ where a bowler had an unusual bowling style which baffled the Britishers in the movie.

A player with the same bowling action has been spotted. The video has been shared by freelance commentator Charles Dagnall on his official Twitter account. He captioned the video ‘This puts @alricho21 double twirl to shame. Love it!’. The video caught the attention of former England skipper Michael Vaughan and he replied ‘Proper action …’ This bowling action is called Double Twirl action.

Watch the video here

This puts @alricho21 double twirl to shame. Love it! pic.twitter.com/EHfLvOo9sc

— Charles Dagnall (@CharlesDagnall) June 6, 2022

Proper action … https://t.co/x1bSx3cXZA

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 6, 2022

Talking about the careers of bowlers with unusual bowling actions, only Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga have had distinguished careers. Apart from them, Kaushik, Adams, Tanvir, and Jadhav didn’t have long careers as they suffered several injuries during their career. Besides, the opposition batters started to decode them as well. Kaushik hasn’t played a game in the Indian T20 League since 2017. Adams couldn’t play for South Africa after 2004 and his career was finished at the age of around 27.

As for Tanvir, he could play only two Tests, both during the India tour in 2007. Apart from that, he has played 62 ODIs and 57 T20Is. Jadhav’s bowling action became a problem for him as started getting injured regularly. The reason for bowlers with unusual actions having such short careers are injuries, as well as the players not working on evolving themselves according to the changing trends. The reason for Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga’s long careers is their ability to evolve.

Notably, Malinga retired from the longest format in 2011 to prolong his career in limited-overs cricket. On the other hand, Bumrah is playing all forms of the game with only one major injury to his name. He sustained a stress fracture in 2019 which kept him out of action for a few months.