Rubel Hossain claims to have invented a new delivery, the 'Butterfly'
Bangladesh fast bowler Rubel Hossain has been out of action for about five months with a knee injury. He last featured in the Bangladesh Premier League in December where he played 6 matches for the Sylhet Super Stars.
His last international action for Bangladesh came against South Africa in the ODI series in July. Rubel has now completed the road to recovery and will make a comeback for Prime Bank Limited in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League (DPL) 2015-16.
Rubel has now finished undergoing rehabilitation and is practising hard to bring out his best on his comeback in the DPL. While taking a break from practice, he spoke to the Television channel Ekattor.
“My main goal is to play well in Premier League (DPL). I have to bowl well every match by match.”
He also spoke about the variations he had experimented with and the new delivery he has added to his repertoire. “I may try to bowl a new type of slower in Premier League. Many senior cricketers told that this delivery is working very good. They encourage me saying, you can do it in matches.
"My new bowling action’s name is butterfly. It should be gripped at the top of the fingers. Then the delivery will be slower at the same action.”
Butterfly redux
Incidentally, this is not the first time that the cricketing world got to hear about the ‘Butterfly’ delivery in connection with Bangladesh. English fast-bowling coach Ian Pont who was hired by Bangladesh five months prior to the 2011 World Cup was first said to have invented the delivery along with the fielding coach Julian Fountain.
Font, who had worked with the likes of Rubel Hossain back then, had said about the delivery: "It's a ball that doesn't rotate in the air, it just floats like a butterfly. It looks like a normal delivery and if it is bowled properly it is dramatic. It just drops like a stone and doesn't go anywhere."
The ‘Butterfly’ was expected to take that World Cup by storm but failed to create a lasting impression. It would now be interesting to see if Rubel's delivery is any different from the butterfly slower that Font had talked about in 2011.
The Bagerhat pacer wants to give his best and be one of the top performers in the DPL this season. "I will definitely try to stay among the top five bowlers," he said.