Kulamani Parida went about his usual pre-match drill on Monday, including a spell of bowling in the nets. But a day ahead of Railways’ Ranji Trophy Elite Division match against Himachal, he and the team management were yet to receive S Venkataraghavan’s correspondence about the legality of his bowling action, which meant his name didn’t figure in the 12-member Railways side.

After practice, he sat alone pondering over his immediate future, even as coach Abhay Sharma was feeding Sanjay Bangar, Murali Kartik, Faiz Fazal and Karn Sharma with difficult catches.

Later, he had an animated conversation with match referee KP Bhaskar Pillai about his action, but he too, like the others, had nothing new to add to the Parida saga. “We haven’t received any report regarding this matter,” said Sharma.

Filling the gaps
To fill the gap, the hosts have called up off-spinner Akshay Girap as cover. With Karn Sharma recovering from a bout of fever and taking his place in the playing eleven, it will be interesting to see who among M Suresh, Akshay Girap and Sanjib Sanyal sit out. Sanyal and Suresh were part of the side which narrowly missed out on taking the first-innings points against Tamil Nadu.

Wicketkeeper batsman Mahesh Rawat, who had injured his forearm in the drawn match against Tamil Nadu, is also in the mix.

In contrast, Himachal have no fitness or any other issues to deal with. “Although you can’t judge a wicket 100 per cent, this one might keep low. It should assist turn, but it will be a slow turner,” Himachal coach Rajdeep Kalsi said.

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