Riyan Parag's bowling action in the Rajasthan Royals game against Punjab Kings on Monday, April 12, in Mumbai intrigued viewers.
The 19 year old went as low as legally allowed in cricket to release a ball when bowling to Chris Gayle.
The umpire was seen having a word with the bowler after the delivery, as the commentary box exploded in surprise. According to the rules, a bowler can only lower his arm, to the length of his shoulder.
'How low is a legal sidearm delivery?' asked Harsha Bhogle.
'Extraordinary!' exclaimed former India spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan. Michael Slater felt Parag seemed to have 'got away with it'.
'Is Parag playing baseball?' asked Tunku Varadarajan, professor and columnist, tweeting from the US.
The umpire was seen having a word with the bowler, possibly telling him that he could not go any lower than that.
Two balls later, as K L Rahul turned the strike back to Gayle, Parag was the one who had the last laugh -- with a more conventional delivery. Gayle was caught in the deep by Ben Stokes to give Parag his first wicket of the season.
Parag bowled just one over in the match and gave away seven runs while picking up the big wicket.
Ravichandran Ashwin this season and Kedar Jadhav have also bowled with their bowling arm almost perpendicular to the body, but as the commentary box pointed out, Parag's sidearm delivery was released from a considerably lower height than Jadhav's delivery.
IPL's official Twitter handle asked fans about their views on Parag's bowling action. 'That is right-arm perpendicular. What name can you think of for this unique action?' the photos were captioned.
