Ahead of India vs Pakistan game, everyone is talking about Tariq

An unconventional action means the batters will take some time to get used to it

- Sanjjeev K Samyal

One of the talking points ahead of Sunday's India versus Pakistan game is Pakistan spinner Usman Tariq’s quirky bowling action. In four T20Is he has Il wickets at an ER 5.93. As troubling as his skills are for the batters, it is with his unorthodox bowling style that he is getting into their heads.

Ahead of the T20 World Cup, in Australia’s game against Pakistan at Lahore when Cameron Green got out to Tariq he went cribbing all the way to the pavilion, muttering to himself and gesturing how can the bowler be allowed to pause and bowl.

Tariq has worked out a bowling style for himself where the batter when facing is not just dealing with what comes off the surface but what he does before the release as well.

Coming from a diagonal run-up, he takes a dramatic pause at the crease to break a batter's rhythm even before the ball is released. He will keep the batter guessing with his trajectory, delivering from various release points, from over arm to round arm. And once he delivers, it is not easy to line him up, he hasa bagful of variations from turn to skiddy arm deliveries with subtle drift at a brisk pace.

After missing Pakistan's tournament opener against the Netherlands, Tariq went on to pick up three wickets against the USA. And, on a Colombo surface that could grip and make stroke-making difficult, Tariq’s stop-start style could be discomforting to deal with for the batters on Sunday.