5 bowling actions we all have tried growing up

Before any of us, yours truly included, became so obsessed about cricket that we decided to do something about it, at heart all of us were fans.

We had our own favourite players who we dearly wished did well in every game regardless of the final outcome. We also had one or more players who were part of the hatred list and hoped would never make it big.

While neither of us who made it big could hit a straight drive like Sachin Tendulkar nor could pull the ball like Ricky Ponting, the one element in the game that most of us often did was to copy bowling actions of players from around the world.

Here are five that most people might have given a shot at some point:

Note: Certain choices are that of the writer. The reader may have 100s and 1000s of other bowling actions of various other bowlers.

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Harbhajan Singh

Singh

When Harbhajan Singh first burst onto the scene in 1998, he came across as someone who could flight the ball and was combative in nature.

He also seemed to possess an interesting action. Both arms would fly in semi-circular motion before the run-up and on delivery, it seemed like both hands came together for a few seconds before the ball tossed out of hand.

While the action itself seemed a bit hard to replicate consistently, one would imagine all of us would have got the 'flying arms' part of the action right at some point.

As the years wore on, however, the off-spinner cut down on that aspect but to-date the bowling action has remained same.

Brett Lee

Among the easiest actions to crack. Brett Lee's action from start to end required very little training to master. Nice easy run-up followed by the left-arm going up and coming down in the batsman's direction that was succeeded by the right-arm coming down with the ball in hand.

It was one of those actions which did not require too much viewing on Youtube or other video platforms and perhaps, the action helped him bowl with the singular mentality of knocking the batsman down with sheer pace and nothing more.

Lance Klusener

Interesting. First word that comes to mind while describing the bowling action of Lance Klusener.

His right-arm almost touched his nose before it came closer to the left-arm and then on completion, the ball whizzed in the direction of the batsman.

In a team with the likes of Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald and others, Klusener's popularity in the game was more for his bowling action, than anything else.

Muttiah Muralidharan

Murali's legacy as an international cricketer was created as much for his unusual yet very unique bowling action. as it was for the fact that he was and still remains Test cricket's leading wicket-taker.

A chest-on action questioned for its legality on several occasions, what made him unique was not just the way he bowled, but the tiger-like eyes which were often visible on camera at the point of delivery.

Getting into the science of it will surely need another full-fledged piece.

Paul Adams

The one action we all attempted and failed every single time.

Paul Adams may not have made it big in the game but is remembered till date for his bowling action and perhaps even tried by a few around the world. It is even difficult to decipher how and where to start writing about the action.

It was so distinct that on delivery when the ball left his hand, his head was looking at the sky and then once the ball had taken flight, his head at the back touched his shoulder.

It was an unbelievably unique action and arguably, the hardest the game has ever seen.