Lakshmipathy Balaji

Lakshmipathy Balaji

India

Full name Lakshmipathy Balaji
Born September 27, 1981, Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu
Current age 25 years 154 days
Major teams India, Tamil Nadu
Also known as Naidu
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium-fast

Statsguru

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	8	9	0	51	31	5.66	126	40.47	0	0	5	1	1	0
ODIs	29	15	6	113	21*	12.55	142	79.57	0	0	7	3	11	0
First-class	52	57	12	543	37	12.06			0	0			15	0
List A	67	35	13	207	21*	9.40	284	72.88	0	0			17	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	10
Tests	8	1756	1004	27	5/76	9/171	37.18	3.43	65.03	2	1	0
ODIs	29	1417	1312	34	4/48	4/48	38.58	5.55	41.67	1	0	0
First-class	52	10148	5049	197	7/42		25.62	2.98	51.51	9	12	4
List A	67	3488	3025	102	5/36	5/36	29.65	5.20	34.19	2	2	0

Career statistics
Test debut	India v New Zealand at Ahmedabad - Oct 8-12, 2003
Last Test	India v Pakistan at Bangalore - Mar 24-28, 2005
ODI debut	India v West Indies at Vadodara - Nov 18, 2002
Last ODI	Sri Lanka v India at Dambulla - Aug 3, 2005
First-class span	2001/02 - 2006/07
List A span	2001/02 - 2006/07

Profile

Lakshmipathy Balaji erased memories of an eminently forgettable one-day debut, where he was caned for 44 runs off 4 miserable overs, and of two fruitless home Tests against New Zealand, when he emerged as one of India's leading fast bowlers in their historic tour of Pakistan. He scalped 12 wickets from three Tests, and was particularly lethal in a couple of sessions in the third Test at Rawalpindi, where he consistently swung the ball away from the right hander and snapped up a then career-best 4 for 63. In addition, his uninhibited batting and megawatt smile endeared him to audiences in a manner even he found difficult to fathom.

Injury struck when India were playing one-dayers in England in the summer of 2004 and Balaji was out of the game for almost a year. But he stormed back into the Indian team in the home Tests against Pakistan in early 2005, taking nine wickets and scoring useful runs on comeback.

He bowls with a whippy, quick-arm action and has the ability to bowl quicker deliveries, yorkers or bouncers without a perceptible change in action. His run of five-wicket hauls in several consecutive Ranji Trophy matches in the 2002-03 season, pitchforked him into national contention. Initially he found it difficult to translate domestic form to success at the highest level. However, once he rediscovered a good wrist position he began to trouble batsmen. His open-chested action, combined with a tendency to bowl wide from the crease, lulls batsmen into believing that the ball comes in with the arm. As a result of this, when the ball swings away, or even straightens, he can be difficult to tackle.