Carrom ball

The carrom ball (also known as the sodukku ball in parts of India) is a style of spin bowling delivery used in cricket. The ball is released by flicking it between the thumb and a bent middle finger in order to impart spin. Though the delivery is known to date from at least the 1940s, it was re-introduced into mainstream international cricket in 2008 by Ajantha Mendis.

Origin and history

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. Mendis unveiled this delivery during the 2008 Asia Cup.Ravichandran Ashwin calls his variation the 'sodukku ball'. In 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. He took 9 wickets in his debut Test against the West Indies in November 2011 and used the carrom ball to dismiss Marlon Samuels in the second innings.