How to play Hasaranga's googly, Shoaib Malik shares his tips

Pakistan cricket team’s former captain Shoaib Malik shared some important tips on how to play Sri Lankan leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga’s googly in an interview with the swing king Wasim Akram.

Responding to Akram’s question “how to play Hasaranga?”, Shoaib Malik declared the Lankan spinner as the best player in today’s modern cricket. He said “I have played Hasaranga in nets, his googly is not traditional; it’s far more different from other leg spinners. Usually, the batter can see the middle finger while a googly is being bowled but Hasaranga is different in his technique.

Shoaib Malik further said that Wanindu Hasaranga’s wrist remains sidearm which makes it difficult for the batters to pick his googly. “He turns the ball both ways, unlike Rashid Khan whose googly turn more but not his normal leg spin. The Sri Lankan leggie gives the bowl more flight and air which makes his googly more effective.

The former skipper emphasized that playing Hasaranga requires proper homework. “Watch his video and do your proper homework before coming on the field and playing Hasaranga. Come up with positive intent. He should know that the batter will come after him”

Responding to Wasim Akram’s question that what is positive intent? Shoaib Malik reminded him of the time when Ricky Ponting told him in Big bash that “We look for a single in other formats but for this particular format (T20Is) one must try to look for boundaries. When the ball is not in your slot so you go for a single instead, this is a positive intent”