No, I’m not talking about the one you buy from sweet vendors. For those of you who are puzzled about this, let me get you started with a couple of technical terms. As most of us know, an off-spinner bowls his stock delivery where the ball pitches somewhere between the off stump and the middle stump and then turns towards the leg stump. Now most of the off-spinners we know have a special bowling variation called the ‘Doosra’, meaning the ball will spin the other way when compared to their stock delivery.
The doosra pitches somewhere between the middle and leg stump and then the ball turns towards the off stump. This variation is necessary for an average off-spinner to put some doubt into the batsmen and it helps the bowler to get a few stumpings as well.
The best off-spinners of all time Muttiah Muralitharan, Saqlain Mushtaq and Bishan Singh Bedi bowled the ‘Doosra’ regularly during their spells which made them unique in their approach to facing world-class batsmen. Even the current generation bowlers Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin have the ability to bowl the 'Doosra'. Sounds like everything is covered doesn’t it? So what is jalebi?
What is ‘Jalebi’?
‘Jalebi’ was the term used by the legendary Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq to describe his bowling variation when he participated in the Indian Cricket League. ‘Jalebi’ better known as the ‘Teesra’ was a kind of variation that Mushtaq claimed to have invented during the ICL where he was a part of the Lahore Badshahs, captained by Inzamam-ul-Haq. ‘Teesra’ translates to ‘The Third One’.
He claimed that the ‘Jalebi’ is when the delivery goes straight on with the angle released by the bowler. With the bowler not changing his action during the run-up, the batsman will have no clue about the variation. This kind of delivery is more like the ‘Slider’ bowled by the leg spinners where the batsmen look to play for the spin but the ball reaches without any change in direction. This deceives the batsman in exposing his leg before the wicket.
The first time the Pakistani off-spinner bowled the ‘Jalebi’ was in a game between the Chennai Superstars and the Lahore Badshahs. The Sri Lankan all-rounder Russel Arnold was on strike when the off-spinner first bowled the delivery. In addition to being the first batsman to face the new delivery, Arnold had put his name in the records when he was also the first batsman to get out to the ‘Jalebi’.
Arnold was adjudged LBW by the umpire when the ‘Teesra’ was bowled by the Pakistani legend. Though Saqlain claimed this to be his invention, the leg spinners had been bowling the ‘slider’ since the beginning of the game.
Saeed Ajmal during the 2012 England tour :
Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal made the news when he claimed he would introduce the ‘Teesra’ in the test match series against England. Saeed Ajmal made Eoin Morgan and Kevin Pietersen victims of the ‘Teesra’ and ended up with match figures of 10 wickets while conceding 97 runs.
Ajmal also holds the record for being just the fifth bowler to pick up 7 leg-before wickets in a single match.
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