With prayer on lips, balaji waits for Pak tour

He has thrived on a “god-given opportunity” once and is now eyeing another such bounty to establish his credentials as a strike bowler. Lakshmipathy Balaji, who made it to the Indian squad for the Australia series only on account of injury to Mumbai bowler Avishkar Salvi, is counting on his luck after having made an impression Down Under with his under-stated determination. “I might have performed well in Australia. But I am now looking forward to Pakistan, of course I should get selected first,” the 22-year-old speedster said. “I am praying to god that he give me yet another opportunity to show my mettle because India-Pakistan matches generate so many electrifying moments,” said the right-arm medium pacer.

Although Balaji did not play in the four Tests, he featured in all of India’s outings in the tri-series — again largely due to the injury-induced absence of Zaheer Khan and briefly that of Ashish Nehra. And the bowler did not disappoint, managing to contain rampaging Aussie batsmen to a great extent. “I am more than happy about my performance. It was a learning experience. I rate this as a god given opportunity and a memorable one at that,” he said. “I was happy to be part of the team, though I missed out on figuring in the 11 for the Test matches. The senior players, particularly my captain and Tendulkar were of great help to me.”