13 Facts about Lakshmipathy Balaji – The smiling assassin

13 Facts about Lakshmipathy Balaji – The smiling assassin: Lakshmipathy Balaji was born on 27 September 1981 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Born and raised in a middle class family, Lakshmipathy Balaji developed his passion for the game during his childhood. The bowler who turns 34 today, has played eight Test matches for India and grabbed 27 wickets at an average of 37.18 while he has taken 34 wickets in 30 ODIs at an expensive bowling average of 39.52. Lakshmipathy Balaji secured a berth in the Indian team for Test cricket in 2003 when he made his Test debut against New Zealand in Ahmedabad. His ODI debut was against West Indies the previous year in 2002.

Here are 13 Facts about Lakshmipathy Balaji – The smiling assassin:

1. Debut:

Lakshmipathy Balaji began to play state-level cricket in 2001; Lakshmipathy Balaji displayed some amazing performance in this year which forced the selectors to give him a chance to play for Team India. By virtue of his performance, the next year he was selected to play against West Indies on November 18, 2002.

2. Big break:

Lakshmipathy Balaji came to be globally recognized in India-Pakistan series 2004, where Lakshmipathy Balaji played a crucial role in India’s historic triumph against Pakistan. He was dropped owing to an injury. Lakshmipathy Balaji made a comeback once again against Pakistan in 2005 Test series and took 5 wickets in the very first innings.

3. Injuries:

Despite performing well, Lakshmipathy Balaji had to stay out of cricket world due to injuries. After the 2005 Test series his international career was put on hold for next 3 years. Lakshmipathy Balaji restarted playing domestic cricket in 2007. He proved to be an instrumental player for Tamil Nadu and helped his side to reach the Ranji Trophy semifinals of 2008. He was brought back to the Indian squad in January 2009.

4. Languages:

Lakshmipathy Balaji is a Tamil but speaks many languages such as Hindi, English, Malay and Tamil. Very few cricketers have the ability to speak several languages.

5. CSK:

Lakshmipathy Balaji did not get much chance to play international cricket under the captaincy of MS Dhoni but he has played the first three consecutive seasons of the IPL (Indian Premier League) under Dhoni. After that he could not play much. In the fourth season he was picked by Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab signed him in the seventh season.

6. 1st IPL hat-trick:

Lakshmipathy Balaji picked hat-trick in the very first edition of the IPL which became the first hat-trick of the tournament in a match against Kings XI Punjab. However he disappointed his fans when he could not save the final match of the first season. He was called to bowl the final over to Shane Warne and Sohail Tanvir, when Tanvir hit the winning runs off his final ball.

Also Read – 3 in 3; Hat Tricks registered in the IPL

7. Teams:

Lakshmipathy Balaji has played for numerous teams both in India and outside India such as Wellington Firebirds, Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Tamil Nadu. He has played 5 T20Is for India and has taken 10 wickets at a bowling average of 12.10. His best bowling show is 3/19 in T20Is.

8. Role model:

Lakshmipathy Balaji happens to be a big fan of former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan. He said, “I enjoyed a lot watching him during the 1992 World Cup Final. As a 10-year-old, I would try to imitate his bowling action. I read about him and cut out posters from sports magazines.”

9. Childhood:

Lakshmipathy Balaji was a very naughty child, would climb trees to pluck mangoes and guavas and would come home with bruise and other injuries. His mother was always worried about his safety and wondered what he might have done. His two sisters are now engineers but his love for the game often made him skip school classes to play Gully cricket. He says that his passion for the game grew deep as he grew older.

10. His Smile:

No, Lakshmipathy Balaji doesn’t always smile. He had a jaw surgery once and the alignment of his teeth gives people the impression that he is smiling all the time. He says his sisters and close friends even tease him for this kind of face impression.

11. Lee’s six:

In an interview he was asked what hurt him the most he said, “Definitely a tailender hitting me for a six, because the team would be expecting me to wrap up the innings. Unfortunately anyone can hit you for a six with those heavy, meaty bats in the market today.” He was referring to India v Australia ODI where Lee hit him for a six in the last over and won Australia the game.

12. Tour of Pakistan:

Every cricketers loves when his name is chanted by the whole stadium but only very few players succeed. Balaji has achieved even more. In 2004 India’s tour of Pakistan, Pakistani cricket audience started chanting “Balaji! Balaji!” he was surprised to see the foreign audience chanting his name.

13. Rajnikant fan:

When Lakshmipathy Balaji was a child Bala never missed first-day first-show of any Rajnikant movie. He is a huge fan of Rajnikant so much so that he has watched almost all his movies. When Veera was released he and his friends reached to get ticket but there were thousands of people waiting outside for their turn to get a ticket. He thought he could not see the first-show. Luckily for him one of his close friends came to him and arranged tickets for him and his friends. Balaji says Rajnikant’s action still gives him goose-bumps.