Sri Lanka’s Tharindu Ratnayake has become the first bowler to take T20I wickets with both arms. Here is how ambidextrous bowling works and why it is so rare.

Ratnayake bowls right-arm off spin and left-arm orthodox spin. Against India, he dismissed Sanju Samson with his left arm and Shivam Dube with his right. He picks his arm based on the batter’s weakness, trying to turn the ball away from right-handers or into left-handers, and sets different fields for each.

The skill is extraordinarily rare because bowling actions are deeply grooved through years of repetition. Ratnayake says he bowled mostly left-arm early in his career before shifting to about 60 percent right-arm. He is the only bowler to take wickets with both arms in Tests as well, doing it on debut against Bangladesh in 2025.

Sri Lanka team-mate Kamindu Mendis can also bowl with both arms but has taken his international wickets right-handed. For now, Ratnayake stands alone as cricket’s true two-armed wicket-taker in both Tests and T20Is.