Marcus Stoinis speaks about Akshay Karnewar's ambidextrous bowling 

What's the story?

Akshay Karnewar, the ambidextrous spinner from the Board President's XI, baffled Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis in the warm-up match between the two teams.

In the post match press conference, Stoinis recalled the moment when the Umpire informed him that the bowler will use his left hand to bowl an orthodox spin in his next delivery. Stoinis said, "I actually didn't know what the umpire was trying to tell me".

"He was trying to say that he was going to bowl left-arm to me. That's brilliant by him... yeah, I have never seen that before", he explained further.

In case you didn't know...

Karnewar can bowl well using either hand. Before Stoinis was on the receiving end, teammate Travis Head had faced the 24-year-old Vidarbha player who delivered an off-spin using his right hand.

When Stoinis went on strike and prepared to face Karnewar, he was informed by the umpire that the bowler was to switch hands. The former stood there perplexed, having come across something like this for the first time.

According to the ICC rules, a bowler is allowed to bowl with either hand. But the necessary condition is that he has to inform the Umpire that he is going to switch his hands before delivering the ball.

The details

After singing praises for Karnewar, Stoinis spoke about their limited overs series that will commence on September 17. He hailed the Indian batsmen and stated that the Men in Blue are ferocious with their bat.

According to him, the Indian batsmen are a 'big threat' to them as each member of the team is a great player. He believes that the Australian team will have to score a lot of runs if they want to compete against Virat Kohli & Co.

He further added that their warm up match against the Board President's XI exposed them to the different playing conditions and that will help them perform better in the next match.

What's next?

The Australian team will now gear up for its first battle against the Indian team scheduled to be held on September 17th at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. The five-match ODI series will end on October 1, followed by a three-match T20I series.

Author's take

An ambidextrous bowler is a rare sight in Cricket, especially when the player has a good command over both his hands. Karnewar efficiently delivers an off-spin and a left-arm spin to the left-handed and right-handed batsmen respectively.

His intention to spin the ball away from the batsman works extremely well for his team.

It will be interesting to see the milestones that Karnewar covers in cricket with this skill up his sleeve.