The Googly and the Doosra: Spin Bowling's Great Surprise Deliveries
How the googly and doosra work as cricket's primary 'wrong-un' deliveries — what makes them effective (they move in the opposite direction from the standard delivery), the mechanical difference between the googly (leg-spin's wrong-un) and the doosra (off-spin's wrong-un), which bowlers have mastered them, why the doosra is legally controversial, and how batsmen attempt to pick these deliveries.
The Googly
The googly is a delivery bowled by a leg-spin bowler that turns in the opposite direction from the standard leg-break — instead of turning from leg to off (away from the right-handed batsman), the googly turns from off to leg (into the right-handed batsman). It is produced by bowling the ball with the back of the hand facing the batsman at release, rather than the palm — an 'over-spun' or 'top-spun' delivery that reverses the direction of spin. The googly was developed and named by B.J.T. Bosanquet around 1900 and has been a leg-spinner's primary variation ever since. A batsman who reads the standard leg-break and moves their feet accordingly will be hit on the pad or beaten inside by the googly; the shot they play for the leg-break's away movement becomes dangerous when the ball comes into them instead.
The Doosra
The doosra ('other one' in Urdu) is the off-spinner's equivalent of the googly — an off-break bowled from an off-spinner's action that turns from leg to off (away from the right-handed batsman) rather than the standard off to leg. The standard off-break is produced by rotating the ball from right to left with the fingers; the doosra requires the fingers and wrist to rotate in the opposite direction while maintaining the visual cues of the off-break grip. This reverse rotation is mechanically very difficult to produce with a legal delivery action — the ICC's 15-degree elbow-flex rule was introduced specifically because many doosra bowlers were found to be exceeding this limit to produce the unnatural wrist rotation required. Saqlain Mushtaq is credited with developing and popularising the doosra; Muttiah Muralitharan and Harbhajan Singh also used it with various degrees of legality controversy.
Picking These Deliveries
Batsmen approach the googly and doosra primarily through video analysis and net practice against bowlers who replicate the action. The key visual cue for the googly is the wrist position at release: the standard leg-break shows the back of the hand facing away from the batsman at one point; the googly shows the back of the hand facing the batsman more prominently. However, elite leg-spinners disguise the googly to the point where even experienced international batsmen cannot reliably identify it from the hand. The alternative approach: 'play for the straight ball and adjust' — the batsman plays for the ball going straight and adjusts if it turns, rather than committing to a shot based on the expected turn before the ball leaves the hand. This late-adjustment technique is slower but reduces the cost of misidentification.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the doosra so much more legally controversial than the googly?
The googly can be produced within the 15-degree elbow-flex limit by talented leg-spinners — the mechanics, while difficult, are achievable with a legal action. The doosra is more problematic because the off-break action makes the reverse rotation required for the doosra mechanically conflicting with maintaining a legal straight arm. To produce the doosra, the elbow often needs to flex more than 15 degrees to generate the opposite wrist rotation — many bowlers attempting the doosra therefore exceed the legal limit. Muralitharan's action was repeatedly tested by the ICC; he was cleared partly because his hyper-flexible elbow (a congenital condition) allowed him to produce spin variations that would require illegal flexing in others. The doosra remains rare at international level because of this legality constraint.
Is there an equivalent to the googly for left-arm spinners?
Yes — the left-arm spinner's wrong-un is called the 'arm ball' or the 'left-arm googly.' A left-arm orthodox spinner's standard delivery turns from off to leg for a right-handed batsman (the opposite of off-spin); the left-arm googly turns from leg to off (the same direction as standard off-spin). Left-arm spinners who can bowl this variation include Wasim Akram (who bowled various spin variations) and others, though it is less commonly named than the googly specifically. The arm ball (a left-arm spinner's delivery that goes straight rather than turning) is different from the googly — the arm ball doesn't turn; the googly turns the wrong way. Both are surprise variations for left-arm spinners.
How effective is the googly in T20 cricket?
The googly is highly effective in T20 cricket specifically because T20 batsmen must commit to attacking shots without the luxury of 'playing yourself in.' A batsman facing a leg-spinner in T20 who misidentifies the googly as a standard leg-break and sets up to hit through the off side is struck on the pad or bowled by the ball coming the other way. The T20 context — limited time, need to score, difficulty of patience — means the googly produces dismissals that a batsman with more time (Test cricket) would avoid through conservative play. Leg-spinners like Rashid Khan, who bowls the googly with exceptional disguise and consistency, are among the most expensive players at T20 franchise auctions specifically because their ability to bowl the googly at pace makes them unusually dangerous in the format.