Smile Please Balaji is back

Lakshmipathy Balaji’s famous 1000 watt smile will be back on display on the Indian cricket field.‘Bala’as he is fondly known made his way into the side after Munaf Patel flew back home due to injury.Incidentally Balaji played his last international match against Sri Lanka in 2005 at Dambulla.With a modified action that has worked well for him so far,it is heartening to see the smile back where it belongs.

Lakshmipathy Balaji made his ODI debut against the West Indies in 2002.He was baptized by fire going for 44 runs off four overs in a game that the Men-in-Blue lost to Carl Hooper’s men. But the turning point came in the series against Pakistan in 2003-04.Balaji swung the cricket ball well to ensure the Pakistani cricketers did not make the pitch their home. Also that famous six off Shoaib Akthar is still counted by cricket fans amongst famous cricketing memories.

But then came the time that every fast bowler dreads every time he bends his back to bowl. Balaji had played the Indian Oil Cup in Sri Lanka where India lost the final to the hosts. When he returned he had a career-threatening back injury for which he went under the knife, one that kept him out of cricket headlines for two years before he returned to play for the IPL finalists-the Chennai Super Kings.

Did someone say return of the King?Balaji sizzled for the SuperKings team taking the IPL’s first hat-trick and finishing with 11 wickets.The smile that had vanished for two years had returned. But Balaji did not stop there; he carried forward the momentum to the Ranji trophy. He took 36 wickets and went with his team-mates to the semi-final.The numbers kept him in the good books of the selectors and he earned a call up to the national squad profiting from Munaf Patel’s injury.

While he may not be playing the third ODI,Balaji must be happy to be back in the blues. With a lot of cricket coming up in 2009,including the IPL where he announced his return, Balaji knows that he has made it to the right place at the right time.All he needs to do is to keep bowling well and wipe the smiles off all the batsmen’s faces while keeping his.It is time to say cheese for Lakshmipathy Balaji.

IPL is back !!!!!

The excitement and expectations from the IPL increase as the second edition approaches. The auction for the foreign players begins on the sixth of February. This year’s edition will see England being represented by Kevin Pietersen & Co for the first time, whereas Shoaib Akthar’s aeroplane celebration wil be missed due to the ban on Pakistani players. Nevertheless here is a look at some of the special moments that clearly made IPL 2008 cricket’s new avtaar.

Behind the action

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Pietersen, Clarke have costliest base price at IPL auction
England’s dethroned captain Kevin Pietersen and Australian vice captain Michael Clarke are to command the top two reserve prices of 1.35 and one million USD, respectively, during the second Indian Premier League players’ auction to be held in Goa on February 6.

England’s charismatic all rounder Andrew Flintoff’s base price has been pegged at USD 950,000 in the auction for which a final list of 43 players nominated by the eight franchisees to go under the auctioner’s hammer was announced by the IPL today.

As per the guidelines set by the Governing Council for the DLF IPL 2009, each franchisee will have a maximum purse of USD 2 million, less any amount spent on signing temporary replacements from last year to select the cricketers best suited for their team’s strategies.

A total of 15 Australians, four Bangladeshis, seven Englishmen, three New Zealanders, five South Africans, four Sri Lankans and five West Indians would go under the hammer, the IPL said.

The first IPL auction last year saw current Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni being bought by Chennai Super Kings for a whopping USD 1.5 million, setting the benchmark for a tumultuous day of auctioning of top players from around the world.

The second-best signing was of controversial Australian all rounder Andrew Symonds who was bought by Deccan Chargers for USD 1.35 million.

These two players were the only millionaire signings last year in the inaugural edition of the Twenty20 League.

The second edition is set to kick off on April 10.

Final list of players nominated and their base prices in USD:
Australia: Aaron Bird 45,000, Brett Geeves 45,000, Bryce McGain 50,000, Daniel Harris 50,000, Dominic Thornley 50,000, George Bailey 50,000, Jonathan Moss 50,000, Michael Clarke 1,000,000, Michael Dighton 85,000, Michael Hill 50,000, Phil Jacques 100,000, Shane Harwood 75,000, Shaun Tait 250,000, Steven Smith 75,000 and Stuart Clark 250,000.

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Bin Mortaza 50,000, Mohammed Ashraful 75,000, Shakib Al Hasan 75,000 and Tamim Iqbal 50,000.

England: Andrew Flintoff 950,000, Kevin Pietersen 1,35,000, Luke Wright 150,000, Owais Shah 150,000, Paul Collingwood 250,000, Ravi Bopara 150,000 and Samit Patel 100,000.

New Zealand: James Franklin 50,000, Jesse Ryder 100,000 and Kyle Mills 150,000.

South Africa: Gulam Bodi 100,000, J P Duminy 300,000, Morne Van Wyk 100,000, Tyron Henderson 100,000 and Yusuf Abdullah 25,000.

Sri Lanka: Chamara Kapugedara 150,000, Kaushalya Weereratne 50,000, Nuwan Kulasekera 100,000 and Thilan Tushara 100,000.

West Indies: Dwayne Smith (To be confirmed), Fidel Edwards 150,000, Jerome Taylor (TBC), Kemar Roach 50,000 and Kieron Pollard 60,000.