Knuckle Ball

A slower-ball variation gripped between bent index and middle fingers and pushed out with the knuckles — no spin, low rebound (Zaheer Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bumrah).

Borrowed from baseball — the ball is held with knuckles or nails so it leaves the hand with minimal spin, mimicking baseball's knuckleball.

Zaheer Khan popularised the cricket knuckle ball in the mid-2000s; Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Andrew Tye later turned it into a death-overs staple.

Advanced — high-skill ceiling, requires drilled repetition and biomechanical screening before match use.

Fingers bent at the second knuckle, ball perched on the knuckles, thumb under for stability.

Pushed out at full pace — the absence of finger drag drops the speed by 25–35 km/h.

No Magnus, low rotation — the ball decelerates faster and bounces low.

Death-overs wicket-taker against batters anticipating a yorker; ideal third or fifth ball of a six-ball death over.

Telegraphing by gripping later — set the knuckle grip before the run-up turn.