Cleared of chucking allegations, Sarandeep bags seven wickets in an innings to make a statement

With his name featuring in the BCCI list of bowlers with suspect action, Sarandeep Singh got a brief lecture from match-referee K Bhaskar Pillai on the dos and don’ts of staying away from further scrutiny. Pillai hasn’t had problems with his bowling so far, but it wasn’t the way Sarandeep wanted to start his day.

The veteran off-spinner, however put the little distraction away to pocket seven wickets and single-handedly stop Railways’s march towards a score of over 450 on Day Two. “He (Pillai) had no issues with my action, he was only telling me that I was doing well to stay away from trouble,” 30-year-old told Sportline after end of day’s play on Wednesday.

Having played three Test matches, five ODIs and 90 first-class games in his career, getting to know through newspapers that his name was on the shamed list was a shocker for Sarandeep.

“I was surprised to find my name on the list as I was never in the question for so many years. But I have no issues with the way the entire issue was handled. My only objection is that nobody should tell me that I chucked once in the evening, while my action remained all right during the first two sessions. That would be too much, if you chuck, you will do it all the time,” he added.

After keeping his team in the match, the off-spinner said that the knowledge of the conditions at the Karnail Singh Stadium saw him through difficult periods. “It’s never easy to bowl here. The pitch is always been slow and low. I had to vary my pace and line length to snare a wicket. Though it was a marathon spell, I am happy with my performance,” Sarandeep says reflecting on his marathon effort of 56.3 overs to bag figures of 7 for 120.

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