When your unusual bowling action becomes the subject of prime-time television debate in India, the most powerful cricketing country in the world, with some even raising question marks over its legitimacy, you know that you have arrived on the big stage.
Ironically, until 10 years ago, the idea of playing international cricket for Pakistan never crossed Usman Tariq’s mind when he left his native country for a salesman’s job in Dubai.
And yet Tariq has now encroached into the consciousness of Indian cricket pundits, adding a sense of mystique to Sunday’s mouthwatering T20 World Cup clash between the fierce rivals in Colombo. The off-spinner’s delicate pause in his delivery stride before releasing the ball has planted seeds of doubt in the batsman’s mind.
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That element of mystery has earned him 11 wickets, including a hat trick in just four T20 Internationals, since the 28-year-old made his Pakistan debut in November last year.
Now on Sunday, the entire subcontinent will hold its collective breath as Pakistan unleashes Tariq on their arch-rivals, hoping the spinner with a sling-arm action who poses at the crease will throw a spanner in India’s works.
But Ravichandran Ashwin, an astute reader of the game, said the Indian batsmen could also pull a fast one on Tariq.
The former India off-spinner even offered a cheeky suggestion on how India could counter Tariq’s unconventional style.
“If he stops before delivering the ball, the batsman has the right to move away. He can say that ‘I thought he is stopping’,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel ‘Ash Ki Bat’.
“That will be an interesting case and a huge headache for the umpire. If I was there I would have done it. One should do everything to win a game within rules.”
Neeil Ojha, a Dubai-based radio jockey and a Level 2 cricket coach, also admitted that the batsmen will be within their rights to move away from the stumps.
“The law doesn’t say that the bowler cannot stop for a second or so before releasing the ball; similarly, the batsman also has the right to move away (from the stumps), thinking the bowler may not release the ball. There have always been these elements of mystery in cricket,” Ojha told Khaleej Times on Saturday.
But if any Indian batsman actually adopts this strategy to unsettle the Pakistani spinner in Sunday’s high-voltage game, which had already been mired in controversy following a boycott threat, it could only add more venom to the frosty relationship between the two countries.
Gopal Jasapara, a veteran Dubai-based cricket coach who has produced more than 10 international cricketers for the UAE, doesn’t expect Indian batters to try anything different on Sunday.
“India have a professional set-up, I am sure they must have done their homework on Tariq. It’s such a big game that I don’t really see them do anything like that,” Jasapara told Khaleej Times.
“Tariq is a good bowler. I know some people are questioning his bowling action, if it’s legal. In my opinion, his bowling action is fine, just that it can be confusing for batsmen. But I think the Indian batters are very skilful, they will just watch the ball and play.”
Remarkably, it was after watching MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, the biopic on India’s World Cup-winning captain, which narrates the story of a man who defied mighty odds to become a champion cricketer, that Tariq made a heroic return from the brink of a nervous breakdown to pursue a cricket career.
Now it’s against Dhoni’s country that Tariq will be hoping to deliver the greatest spell of his life and become a cult hero in Pakistan cricket.
