Why Unorthodox Actions Are Successful?

Even a straight ball bowled by a bowler with an unorthodox action looks like a mystery. It is because the mind is not able to pick up the hints...

- Mohd. Asim

Cricket has always been about bowling, batting and fielding. The bats-men have ensured that they get best of the bowlers most of the times while bowlers have tried to break the defensive barriers of the batters. The battle is on since decades and both have evolved with passage of time. The batsmen have learned new shots to increase their dominance while new type of deliveries have come into play to cash on any sort of opportunity offered by ones who are at the crease. It is not an easy job to judge the line and length of a ball which is bowled at 140kph. It requires years of practice to makeup a mind to play which sort of shot on a particular delivery. A cricketer holding a willow has got three options to choose from for any delivery. Firstly, he can stay on the back foot or can come forward for the ball and secondly, he can be aggressive or defensive in his approach. The third aspect revolves around off side or onside. Once a batsman decides his shots, he moves his body accordingly and since there is less time to change the shot, the instincts take over. Similarly, it is not easy to face a bowling machine in the beginning as it doesn’t give hints but the comfort level increases once a player starts playing regularly. The same could be said about the bowlers who have unorthodox bowling actions. Even a straight ball bowled by a bowler with an unorthodox action looks like a mystery. It is because the mind is not able to pick up the hints and more often a batter is late on the shot which results in missing the ball or a mistimed stroke. The fast bowlers with such actions have reaped in huge benefits in international cricket. They have taken wickets in abundance and have carved a nich