Ambidextrous bowlers have slowly started to become commonplace in the cricketing arena. Sri Lankan bowler Kamindu Mendis vowed viewers around the world by switching to right-arm spin and left-arm spin seamlessly in the same over during last year’s U-19 World Cup. India came with their own double-armed bowling dynamo in Akshay Karnewar. Faithfully sticking to their rich tradition of plucking out pacers (read: brilliant ones) from obscurity, Pakistan showcased to the world the first ambidextrous pacer in Yasir Jan.
Here, it’s India coach Anil Kumble who tries his hand at bowling with his weaker arm, and pulls it off with aplomb. This was no lighthearted training session either. India’s highest Test wicket-taker was helping batsman Cheteshwar Pujara combat the threat of Steve O’Keefe, who picked up a historical 12 for 70 in the first India-Australia Test at Pune, helping his side to a crushing 333-run win.
The footage, released by BCCI, was shot before the Bengaluru Test, which India won by 75 runs to level the series 1-1. Pujara, after a poor outing with the bat in the first Test, much like most of his teammates, played a match-winning hand on a tricky Chinnaswamy wicket, scoring a decisive 92 in the second innings.
Pujara revealed what Kumble was trying to do, “As they have a left-arm spinner, Anil bhai was trying to replicate that, coming from corner of the crease and angling into the right hander and try to spin it from there,” Pujara told bcci.tv ahead of the third Test.
India had achieved what they set out to do with this routine: To keep O’Keefe quiet. How Nathan Lyon ran through the Indian batting lineup during the first innings of the second Test en route to a career-best 8/50, though, is another matter altogether.
The third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins on March 16 in Ranchi.
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