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.

Balaji's ride at the international level was cut short in 2005 owing to a stress fracture. He has not played a game for India since August of that year and his domestic appearances have been limited too. Balaji was set to return to first-class cricket in the 2007-08 season but Tamil Nadu decided not to rush him back. He has since spent time remodelling his action and also went to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore to have his fitness monitored. In 2008 it was announced that Balaji had signed on with the Indian Premier League's Chennai franchise, the Super Kings. His comeback was emphatic at best - in his second game, he took the first hat-trick of the IPL, against Kings XI Punjab, and rounded off the evening with a match-winning five-wicket haul.
Anand Vasu (March 2008)

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Oct 2, 2006 Lakshmipathy Balaji in action in the second game © AFP

Oct 10, 2005 Lakshmipathy Balaji took the big wicket of Sachin Tendulkar © AFP

Sep 8, 2005 Lakshmipathy Balaji lets fly © Getty Images

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