Sarandeep in the dock as Mumbai fight back

By stumps on Day Two,the defending Ranji champions had brought the match back on an even keel,finishing at 76 without loss,eight runs short of the deficit,with openers Ajinkya Rahane and Sahil Kukreja well set at the crease.

Sarandeep,who is part of the BCCI’s list for bowlers with suspect actions,did bowl five legal deliveries after being called for chucking,but spent the rest of the evening muttering under his breath at the fine-leg boundary. While both skippers empathised with the Himachal spinners predicament,coach Rajdeep Kalsi insisted that his team had lost their trumpcard. He is shattered and has been repeatedly checking out the videos of his bowling. We were informed about him having a suspect action,but he has never been called in his career before, he said.

The issue should be nipped in the bud and young bowlers with suspect actions should be brought to task early. It doesnt make sense calling guys like Sarandeep and Kulamani Parida,who have been around for 10-15 years, said Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer.

Earlier in the day,Bhavin Thakkar ensured that his team went past Mumbais first innings score of 162 with ease. He fell 12 runs short of a century,while the tail-enders seemed too eager to return to the bowling crease thereafter,playing outrageous shots and losing wickets in the process.

Brief scores: Mumbai 162 and 76/0 (A Rahane batting 38,S Kukreja batting 35); Himachal 246 (B Thakkar 88; I Abdulla 4/48,H Singh 4/89)