Carrom Ball - Origin and Growth of The Bowl

Origin and Growth of The Bowl

The first bowler known to have used this style of delivery was the Australian Jack Iverson from Victoria, who used it throughout his Test career in the period after the Second World War, although he did not use the name "carrom ball". Fellow countryman John Gleeson used a similar grip a decade later, but by the 1970s the method was almost forgotten; however, it has since re-entered cricketing consciousness because of its use by Ajantha Mendis of Sri Lanka, with the new name of carrom ball.

Recently, Ravichandran Ashwin of India has been associated with the carrom ball. Ashwin calls his variation the 'sodukku ball'. In the Tamil language, sodukku means "snapping of fingers". This is reflected by the way the ball is delivered, by a "snap" of the middle finger and the thumb. Ashwin went on record to say that he first learned to bowl this type of delivery playing street cricket in Chennai, while using a tennis ball, and later in his childhood, he perfected the delivery with a real cricket ball. Ashwin used this ball in the 2008 IPL (Indian Premier League) weeks before Mendis unveiled it in the international arena during Asia cup 2008, thus rejecting any views that either of them copied it from the other, as perfecting such a ball can take months of practice. He took 9 wickets in his debut test against West Indies in 2011-2012 and used the carrom ball to dismiss Marlon Samuels in the second innings. In 2013 UP bowler Ajit Yadav has alleged he first developed the ball.