Lakshmipathy Balaji Lavishes Praises On Former Indian Test Batsman

Former Indian seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji has heaped praises on Subramaniam Badrinath and his exploits in domestic cricket. Subramaniam Badrinath recently retired from all forms of cricket and has to be one of the unfulfilled talents of Indian cricket. Despite his prolific first-class career, he could only play two Tests for India, both of which came in 2010.

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While the presence of stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid made the era of 2000s a golden one for India, several proven domestic performers could not break-in. Subramaniam Badrinath was one those, having scored 10245 runs in 145 first-class fixtures at 54.49. However, the presence of the stars in the national team did not allow him to fix his spot.

Lakshmipathy Balaji narrated instances when Badrinath used to predict occasionally how many runs he is going to muster in a session. There were times when the best bowlers were performing despite which he was confident how many runs would come off which.

“Have you heard somebody casually say that he is going to score a hundred? I saw that in 2005. Different Badris. Different stages showcasing what all he could do. He was toying with the bowlers. At one stage, the best spinners were bowling. He had already told me that he is going to score a hundred in an hour and that he is going to hit this bowler for these many runs in this session,” Lakshmipathy Balaji told Ravichandran Ashwin on the show Formula for Success.

Badri was technically sound and never gave his wicket away: Lakshmipathy Balaji

Balaji went on to say that Badrinath is the living example of how people evolved and emphasized his performances in the IPL. The seamer further recounted a memory when due to dehydration, the 39-year old had to get a round of drips from Malar Hospital. He was defiant and at the same time showed the formula of hammering a century in a single session during his Ranji Trophy debut.

“Badri is the greatest example of how people evolve over time. He was able to transform to aggressive. You must have seen him in IPL. There was a match when he came after getting a round of drips from Malar Hospital due to dehydration. And the team again collapsed. Badri was technically sound and never gave his wicket away but everyone saw it from the opposite side. But the same Badri showed his other side. During his Ranji Trophy debut, he showed how a century can be scored in one session,” the Tamil Nadu seamer mentioned.

Badri can do many things: Balaji

The 38-year old added that the right-handed batsman removed his drips and went on to score a match-saving hundred about which nobody knows. Subramaniam Badrinath was also part of two successful IPL campaigns of Chennai in 2010 and 2011, scoring 1441 runs at 30.65. In his only T20I, he secured the man of the match award.

“So he came with the drips set-up in an ambulance and played. He removed all that and went in. Again defence and a match-saving hundred. Nobody knows about all this. Badri can do many things. He is the greatest example for everyone across generations,” he added.

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