There is a new spinner who is making waves. Usman Tariq, the mystery spinner for Quetta Gladiators, stole the show during his team’s most recent Pakistan Super League (PSL) encounter against the Karchi Kings. The bowler Tariq stunned fans, players, and even Sir Vivian Richards, the mentor of the Gladiators, by striking twice in one over.
In the opening and final balls of Karachi’s seventh over, Tim Seifert and James Vince were dismissed by Tariq, who would occasionally stop for a nano-second in his bowling action before releasing the ball. Fans on social media declared Tariq’s strange action – which got both Seifert and Vince LBW – to be unlawful.
Speaking candidly about Tariq’s action, former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq stated that right-handers particularly find him challenging to play against because of his precision. “Taqir has a carrom ball and on top of that, he is accurate. The spin is so subtle that it is just enough to beat the bat. For the right-handers, he is difficult to face,” Misbah asserted on a cricket show on A Sports, a Pakistani sports channel.
Baseball pitchers have an action whic is very similar to how Tariq delivers the ball. Like a baseball pitcher, he winds his arm back with a high arm slot before throwing the ball at a deceptive tempo. Not much is known about Tariq, and a report in Wisden claims that not even PCB, one of the biggest websites for cricket, has his age record.
He made his Quetta Gladiators debut on February 25 against the Multan Sultans. In the match against Karachi Kings, he bowled a maiden picking two wickets.
Batsmen find it challenging to predict the trajectory and tempo of the delivery due to this peculiar technique that evokes a sense of mystery.
