Balaji not a 'suspect' any more

CHENNAI: It was a bolt from the blue for Lakshmipathy Balaji when he was reported for bowling with suspect action in a Ranji Trophy game against Gujarat and asked to go to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore to get it rectified.
But then, the report turned out to be a mistake on the part of the umpires concerned VA Kulkarni and MS Pathak and the paceman, who has played international cricket with distinction, was cleared by the NCA in a day's time.
Though Balaji himself declined to comment saying it's a Board matter and he was not supposed to talk, sources close to the paceman informed the TOI how difficult it was for him to see his name on the list of bowlers with suspect action.
"He has been one of the best bowlers of the country for a long time now. He was quickest to 150 first-class wickets, went to the Australian Cricket Academy with Gavaskar-Border scholarship along with Gautam Gambhir. It was a shock for him to see his name on that list after playing for so long," the source said.
It's understood that when Balaji went to Bangalore along with Tamil Nadu coach WV Raman, the NCA director Sandeep Patil and the bowlers coach Bharat Arun, too, expressed their surprise. Though the footage of the Tamil Nadu-Gujarat match, where Balaji was reported, was not available, the jury cleared him after looking at his bowling.
It was learnt that his arm bend was only 2 degrees, while the permissible limit is 15 degrees. "The coaches present there didn't waste any time to clear him," Raman told the TOI. "We all knew someone had gone wrong somewhere when we found his name on that list. Thankfully, Balaji didn't have to go through the trauma for too long," the coach added.
But the very fact that the pacer found his name on that list is understood to have left a bitter taste in his mouth. "It was obviously a mental pressure, more so for a player like Bala who has gone through a lot in his career. He simply didn't deserve this," Raman said, adding that Abhinav Mukund, too has been cleared.
The NCA, too, hasn't taken the matter too well and one learns that the authorities will have a talk with BA Jamula, the umpires' coach, and Match Referee SS Patil, who had submitted the report against Balaji.
The pacer, who was surprisingly dropped from the Duleep Trophy squad, is now getting ready for the South Zone One-dayers starting in Chennai on February 10. "I don't want to remember what has happened earlier. My job is to stay focused and do my job to the best of my ability," was all Balaji said.