A doosra (Urdu: دوسرا, Hindi दूसरा) is a particular type of delivery by an off-spin bowler in the sport of cricket, popularised by Pakistani cricketer Saqlain Mushtaq. The term means "(the) second (one)", or "(the) other (one)" in Urdu (and Hindi). Saqlain Mushtaq has also invented a variant of the doosra, a ball which he calls the "teesra", meaning "(the) third (one)".
Other bowlers have made considerable use of the doosra in international cricket, including Sri Lankans Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis, South African Johan Botha, Indian Harbhajan Singh and the Pakistanis Shoaib Malik and Saeed Ajmal.
The doosra is a relatively new type of delivery. Saqlain Mushtaq is credited with its invention, which was integral to both his success and the future of off-spin bowling, as it is unlikely that any off-spinner prior to him ever bowled a delivery which turned from leg.
The naming of the delivery is attributed to Moin Khan, the former Pakistani wicketkeeper, who would call on Mushtaq to bowl the "doosra" (the other one) from behind the stumps. Tony Greig, a commentator in one of these matches, eventually linked the word to the delivery and confirmed it with Saqlain in a post-match interview. Thus the term became a part of cricketing culture. The doosra is now an important part of the off-spin armoury.
Some people, however, feel that the real pioneer of the doosra was Sonny Ramadhin, who played for the West Indies in the 1950s, as he moved the ball both ways, despite gripping the ball like an off-break bowler.
The bowler delivers the ball with the same finger action as a normal off break but cocks the wrist so that the back of the hand faces the batsman. This gives the ball spin in the opposite direction to that for an off break, causing it to spin from the leg side to the off side to a right-handed batsman.
The doosra is the off-spinner's equivalent of the leg-spinner's googly, which spins in the opposite direction to the leg spinner's stock ball.
Read more about this topic: Finger Spin