Explainer: Different Types Of Variations In Spin Bowling

Cricket is an ever-evolving game. It has seen a lot of changes with regards to the mastery of the skills and the invention of new techniques to keep the game interesting. 

Bowling is one of the toughest skills to master, especially in the current era where variations are key to survive in the sport. The bowler needs to have plenty of weapons in his armory to challenge the batter. 

In the time of the T20s, spin bowling is a skill that is the toughest to bowl since the batters are waiting to pounce on anything slow. Spinners have evolved and have upgraded themselves to keep themselves in the game. 

Let's take a look at different types of variations in spin bowler has in his armory: 

1) Googly - Or Wrong'un is bowled by leg spinners (or Chinaman in case of a left-arm bowler). The delivery bowled, spins into the right-handed batter when a right-arm leg-break bowler bowls. The chinaman bowler will spin it away from the right-handed batter. Different bowlers have different grips to bowl a googly, but the common practice is to hold the ball with the third finger on the seam and apply pressure from the third and fourth finger while releasing the delivery. 

2) Doosra - This is the variation bowled by off-break bowlers. When a right-arm bowler bowls a doosra, it spins away from the right-handed batter while the left-armer bowls it into the righty batter. It is a difficult delivery to bowl since it requires the arm to be bent which is illegal according to the laws of ICC. Saqlain Mushtaq is believed to have invented this variation. 

3) Top Spin - It is one of the common variations which a spinner bowls, be it leg-break or off-break bowler. In this type of variation, the ball spins straight towards the batter, unlike the conventional spin which moves sideways. This helps in ball dipping early and have an extra bounce off the pitch. 

4) Flipper - This type of variation is bowled by leg-break bowlers. The ball is released on a flatter trajectory and it skids as soon as it pitches. The ball is likely to bounce low in this variation. 

5) Arm Ball - It is a variation bowled by off-break bowlers. The ball is released quick through the air which goes on straight when it pitches. 

6) Slider - This type of delivery has a very subtle difference from the conventional leg break. The release and flight of the ball are identical for both slider and leg-spin but the difference is in the wrist position. The slider is bowled by turning the wrist towards the body of the batter. The ball holds its line when it pitches.  

7) Carrom Ball - Ajantha Mendis introduced this type of variation in international cricket which was then mastered by India's R Ashwin. This delivery spins away from the right-handed batter when bowled by a right-arm bowler. The bowler grips the ball with the thumb, index finger, and forefinger and then flicks it during the release.