Not fully healed, but IPL deal has given Balaji something to smile about

Even as every domestic player of repute was signing up contracts worth lakhs, there were no takers for Balaji until Tuesday, when the Chennai IPL team announced that they had signed the Tamil Nadu pacer, who is fighting his way back after a series of debilitating injuries left his career in shambles. Balaji has fought a groin injury and two back surgeries and now has a metal plate inserted in his back and sources close to the genial bowler say he is still working towards attaining full fitness.

“This (picking him from IPL) is essentially a great gesture on part of the TNCA, who want to show the bowler that he has not been forgotten. It’s unlikely that he’ll play too much of a part in the IPL,” a source close to Balaji told The Indian Express.

Announcing Balaji’s inclusion in the Chennai Super Kings team, V B Chandrasekar, head of cricketing matters for the IPL side, said “we have pitchforked him in our team as an additional bowler. He has been in action after recovery from injury in the TNCA’s first division matches this season. “He has been effective in two spells of ten overs, though he has not been tried on the trot. He is surely going to be a lethal weapon in our scheme of things in the Twenty 20 IPL matches,” he said.

Up-and-down

After a forgettable one-day debut in 2002, Balaji came back a changed bowler, hitting great heights in the Pakistan tour of 2004. He also hit Shoaib Akhtar for a famous six, apart from playing a crucial role in the one-day series win. His back gave out a year later, and he had to undergo surgery. Balaji was sidelined for national reckoning due to a stress fracture and had last played for India in 2005, during the Indian Oil Cup in Sri Lanka.

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