doosra

n. a cricket delivery bowled in such as way as to spin away from right-handed batsmen. Subjects: Hindi, Urdu, India, Pakistan, Sports & Recreation, Slang

Etymological Note: < Hin./Urd. doosra ‘second, other, another’

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Citations: 1999 Agence France-Presse (Nov. 16) “Saqlain puts faith in God’s gift” (in Hobart, Australia): Saqlain [Mushtaq], 22, who flicks his thumb and index finger across the seam while keeping his wrist action almost identical to his stock off break, has revolutionised his art with his “doosra”.…“The Urdu word for it is doosra, first is off spin and second is ‘doosra’ bowl. It’s the same grip but I just use my finger, the same spinning finger and my thumb.” 2003 Michael Atherton Sunday Telegraph (U.K.) (Dec. 7) “Murali a law unto himself in throwing controversy” p. 9: It is his new delivery, his version of the “doosra,” the one that spits and spins away from the right-hander like a leg-break that has aroused suspicion. 2004 That’s Cricket (India) (May 15) “Howard feels the heat of Murali ‘deliveries’” (in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe): Perth-based biomechanics experts subsequently tested him and initially found he straightened his bent arm by 14 percent in bowling a delivery tagged the “doosra.” The doosra is a delivery which spins away from right-handers instead of coming into them like a normal off-break. 2004 Khaled Ahmed Daily Times (Lahore, Pakistan) (May 30) “Muralitharan and ‘doosra’”: Moin Khan shouted doosra because he wanted Saqlain to deliver his disguised leg spin. When he said doosra he used the Urdu word for the other one. The purpose was to hide the instruction from the non-Urdu-speaking batsman.…Doosra in Urdu-Hindi means the other or second. It comes from doh meaning two.

Posted 3 Jun 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend