Tie hero Mathews now spins for India

To describe the man in his own words, he’s “the one who got Mr Singh out last ball”. Most of the present Indian team have seen him bowl on TV but Mathews gave them a new year surprise by walking into their nets at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and having a little workout with them.

Skipper Anil Kumble and bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad were obviously pleased, but it was Harbhajan Singh who made the most of the gift. Mathews spent quite some time with Harbhajan, explaining a few basics, the importance of utilising the non-bowling arm, the use of hips in getting the tweak and worked further on his flight.

And while Mathews was having his chat with Harbhajan, his 15-year-old son Dascy, an upcoming leg-spinner for New South Wales, was receiving tips from Kumble.

“I am not supposed to say much about what we worked at specifically but there was a bit of talk about his flight, wrist position. I told him about the importance of the non-bowling arm. It’s like the rudder of the ship while the hips are like the motor,” he says.

Today, Mathews rues the fact that he didn’t have the doosra in his armoury during his playing days. “I would have loved to have it when I was playing, it’s such a brilliant thing to have. I got to find a few things about it from Harbhajan,” he said, adding quite cheekily that another thing he missed was the ICC’s new 15-degree leeway for the bowling arm.