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Ranji Trophy 2014-15: Mumbai Singh comeback song

With Mumbai's bowling looking weaker than ever, selectors finally gave a call-up to the Singhs.

Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Harmeet Singh, Mumbai Ranji Trophy, Ranji Trophy

Balwinder and Harmeet took four wickets each to give former champions first innings lead. (Express Photo by Bhupinder Rana)

A few weeks ago, Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Harmeet Singh came across each other at a local corporate game in Mumbai, where in all probability they would have discussed the constant cold shoulder they kept on getting from the Mumbai selectors.

Not too long ago, the youngsters had made a remarkable entry in the domestic circuit. Balwinder, a medium-pacer, came into limelight after a stunning debut against Punjab four years ago, where he took five wickets. It was implausible to imagine that he wouldn’t feature in the scheme of things shortly after. Ditto Harmeet. After a promising start to his career as a junior, he lost his way and was soon omitted from the Mumbai under-23 team as well a few months ago. The fact that his name appeared in the match fixing scandal – even though cleared later – further dented his reputation.

But with Mumbai down in the dumps and the bowling department looking weaker than ever, the selectors finally gave a call-up to the Singhs from Mumbai. And the duo did not disappoint. They both took four wickets each to put Mumbai in a commanding position against Baroda in their Ranji Trophy tie here. It’s the first time Mumbai have found themselves in such authoritative position this season.

The visitors restricted Baroda to 184 runs and enjoy a 103 runs lead on a pitch which has only gotten tougher for the batsman as the match as progressed. Fourteen wickets fell on Day Two of the match at the Motibagh Ground. And interesting, on the surface that has favoured the spinners more, it was Balwinder who caused more damage. The youngster bowled his heart out to bring Mumbai back in the match after Baroda openers Kedar Devdhar and Saurabh Wakaskar gave the hosts a decent start, scoring 47 for the opening wicket. Sandhu removed Wakaskar and captain Aditya Waghmode in the same over and in the following over, he scalped Devdhar.

Baroda’s talisman Yusuf Pathan was caught in the gully. Baroda had now lost four wickets for just 14 runs. Sandhu resumed after the break to take the wicket of Deepak Hooda before Harmeet started weaving his magic on the pitch that offered turn and bounce.

The timing of Balwinder’s performance cannot go unnoticed. It offers hope considering that Mumbai’s bowling department has lacked teeth this season. Personally, too, he hopes it will help him resurrect his career. The 27-year-old was said he was suffering with acute back problem and had to deal with a bout of dengue, which halted his comeback. For the last two years, he saw helplessly from the stands as Mumbai recharged its pace battery with new additions to the squad.

However, Balwinder made the most of the opportunity that was presented to him this season. “It was frustrating not to play a Ranji game for all this while. I never expected that after by debut performance I will go through such a phase. I always wondered why I’m not there in the side despite doing well,” Balwinder said.

Brief Scores: Mumbai 287 (A Tare 127 not out, Irfan Pathan 3 for 47, Yusuf Pathan 3 for 90) vs Baroda 184 all out.

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