Extraordinary Saqlain Mushtaq DOOSRA collection [RARE clips]

If you were lucky enough to catch Saqlain at the peak of his career, you'd recognize what a tremendous/unique asset he was to cricket.

Saqlain was indeed the inventor of the doosra. Simply put, before him, the idea of an off-spinner bowling a straighter ball that could potentially turn the other way/hold its length with more flight than a usual off-spinner was non-existent.

Notice how commentator Bill Lawry at 1min 58seconds says the ball went between the batsman's gate like a typical off spin ball normally would even though the delivery CLEARLY missed the line and went OUTSIDE Tom Moody's bat. Such was the unique concept of the doosra that the commentators could not yet come to the conclusion that a bowler could be so creative as to break from traditional off spin and bowl a straighter one with more drift and/or flight.

Similarly, Richie Benaud during Steve Waugh's dismissal at 32 seconds in the video says Waugh was deceived in flight. While Waugh was deceived in flight, he clearly missed the doosra and thus got out. The commentators could not see yet the pattern that the ball's trajectory was completely different from a standard off spinner.

Throughout 1996-1997 batsmen continuously missed Saqlain's doosras as evidenced in the first 3-4 minutes. It was simply a delivery that no batsman thought could be bowled at will by a bowler.

Saqlain's doosra became such an effective tool that Wasim Akram started using him to bowl at the death (final) overs of the innings. No spinner had ever been trusted by a captain to bowl at the final innings of a match. Saqlain not only became a death bowler, he mastered the art itself. Attacking Saqlain in the death overs became next to impossible.

Saqlain during his peak years was so integral to the team's structure that he was notoriously known for taking up to 5 minutes per over for a spinner (almost unheard of!) because the captain (then Wasim Akram) provided him with all the facilities, patience and field settings for Saqlain to prosper.

The "doosra" as it became known later was quickly adopted by all off spinners. Today an effective off spinner simply cannot exist without the doosra in his arsenal.

Extraordinarily, Saqlain is only 1 year older than Saeed Ajmal today. Persistent injuries, over reliance on doosra later on in his career amongst other things led to his demise but we will always be grateful to the magician.