The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Everything clicked, says Balaji

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Tuesday, Dec 30, 2008
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Everything clicked, says Balaji

Bangalore: L. Balaji remained modest as ever and tended to speak more about the team rather than his spells that paved the way for Tamil Nadu’s victory. However, when repeatedly asked about his role, Balaji said: “In the first one hour, everything clicked. The ball was coming out well from my hand, I had a nice rhythm. I am happy that I could bowl well and take my team to the next level – semi-final.” Balaji termed the match as perhaps one of the greatest he has ever played in and ranked it close to the Tests he has played against Pakistan.

“There was almost no chance for a comeback in this match but as a team we did well. We have grown up on these flat tracks and we know how to bowl. Look at the way Zaheer and Ishant are bowling these days. They have shown a big heart and that is the most important thing,” Balaji said and added, “The last two years have been a struggle but I don’t want to recollect all that.”

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu coach W.V. Raman stressed that his players believed that they had a chance and praised Balaji.

“We knew it would be interesting to watch how Bengal emotionally handled their small lead. Balaji bowled splendidly and his comeback after undergoing surgery, restructuring his run-up and remodelling his action is a great achievement. Knock-out matches like this should be five-day matches even though we came back here and Saurashtra came back against Karnataka,” Raman said. — Principal Correspondent

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