Former Indian bowler Lakshmipathy Balaji might have played just eight Tests, but his popularity during his time with the Indian team was such that fans still hold a soft corner for him.
On Thursday, Balaji announced his retirement from first-class career, and his former teammates and fans took to Twitter in appreciation to what has been a memorable career.
In a career that lasted almost 16 years, the Tamil Nadu pacer took 330 wickets in 106 first-class matches, which included 27 wickets in eight Tests at an average of 37.18.
Balaji’s highlight came back in 2004 during India’s tour of Pakistan where he was very popular with the local fans, which took many – including Balaji himself – by surprise. In a team which had the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, the Chennai-born cricketer received the biggest reception from the Pakistani public.
Irfan Pathan, who was on that tour of Pakistan with Balaji, remembered the times when Pakistan fans sang for Balaji. Balaji, zara dheere chalo is a modified version of popular Bollywood song Babuji, zara dheere chalo.
Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag, who is a very popular figure on Twitter, used the platform to send a heartfelt message to Balaji which roughly translates to “No one can smile all the time, but there was no answer to Balaji’s smile“.
Long-time team-mates at the domestic level Ravinchandran Ashwin, Dinesh Karthik and Subramaniam Badrinath also showered their praises on Balaji. Karthik and Badrinath called him Tamil Nadu’s greatest fast bowler.
Former Indian team-mates – including current Indian coach Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kathik – also showed their appreciation towards Balaji on Twitter.