The wickets column may not have too much to show, but that will not bother Lakshmipathi Balaji. In his first serious outing in more than 17 months, the right-arm paceman showed few signs of discomfort, a remodelled run-up and an unchanged action standing him in good stead.
It will take a while before Balaji returns anywhere near close to his best, but the 26-year-old will take great heart from his 7.2 overs in the opening match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the ACA-VDCA stadium on a hot, humid Tuesday. He wasn't quite the star of Tamil Nadu's comfortable six-wicket triumph over Madhya Pradesh that has earned them a quarterfinal shot at defending champions Mumbai on Friday -- that honour went to skipper S Badrinath as Tamil Nadu dismissed Madhya Pradesh for 189 in 48.2 overs and romped home in 41.5 overs.
Balaji cynosure
Balaji was the cynosure on the day, all the attention centred on how he would pull up in his first competitive bowl in more than a year and a half. The 26-year-old picked up a lot of confidence, not just from the manner in which he bowled, which was quite impressive, but because he felt no ill effects of the stress fracture of the lower back that sent him to England in February last year for corrective surgery. The modified run-up entailed a gentle couple of skips -- not unlike a high-jumper winding up for a leap -- giving way to a gradually accelerating trot designed to put no pressure on his back as well as to ensure that there is no deceleration by the time he releases the delivery. Balaji worked up decent pace towards the end of his accurate first spell, apart from procuring appreciable bounce and considerable sideways movement throughout his work-out that netted him one for 31.
It will not go down as the most sensational of comebacks, but the very fact that Balaji was able to run in and attack the crease is credit to the pacer as well as coach Woorkeri Raman, who has been working tirelessly with Balaji for more than eight months now.
Balaji will get another chance to carry his progress forward against Mumbai, thanks to an excellent all-round performance by Badrinath's men. Just about the only thing that went right for MP was the toss, Sanjay Pandey having no hesitation in opting to bat first.
After that, it was largely one-way traffic as Tamil Nadu's versatile combination of bustling medium-pace, the guile of off-spinner R Ashwin and the magic touch of Badrinath himself kept them down to 189.
Lack of partnerships
Madhya Pradesh suffered due to lack of partnerships. In direct contrast, Tamil Nadu had valuable stands through their chase, successive partnerships of 42, 41 and 62 for the second, third and fourth wickets, with Badrinath the constant, propelling them to 194 for four with more than eight overs to spare. Madhya Pradesh toiled hard in the heat and offie Jalaj Saxena got the ball to turn sharply, but Badrinath's undisputed class and the clear gulf in skills between the sides meant only one team was ever in the running.
