He told me he is going to score a hundred in an hour: L Balaji lavishes praise on former India batsman

During the mid-2000s, the Indian team was jam-packed with batting greats. The likes of Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman occupied the middle-order for the Indian test team while Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir started the innings. They are legends of the game and won many matches for their country. However, their presence in the side led to many other talented batters missing out on the chance to break into the side. It was difficult for any newcomer to dislodge batsmen like Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly or Tendulkar from the playing XI.

Subramaniam Badrinath was one such player. He was a stalwart in domestic cricket with a plethora of runs to his name. Badrinath scored 10,245 runs at an average of 54.49 in his domestic career and won numerous matches for his state. Despite that, he couldn’t break into the Indian side.

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However, his contribution and success in cricket have never been underestimated. Although he was predominantly a Test cricketer, Badrinath transformed his game and became an integral part of the Chennai Super Kings side which won IPL title with him in the team.

Former India pacer Lakshmipathy Balaji recently narrated instances where Badrinath would occasionally predict how many runs he is going to score in a session.

“Have you heard somebody casually say that he is going to score a hundred? I saw that in 2005. Different Badris. Different stages showcasing what all he could do. He was toying with the bowlers,” Balaji said on R Ashwin’s YouTube show ‘Formula for Success’.

“At one stage, the best spinners were bowling. He had already told me that he is going to score a hundred in an hour and that he is going to hit this bowler for these many runs in this session.”

“Badri is the greatest example of how people evolve over time. He was able to transform to aggressive. You must have seen him in IPL.”

“There was a match when he came after getting a round of drips from Malar Hospital due to dehydration. And the team again collapsed.”

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“Badri was technically sound and never gave his wicket away but everyone saw it from the opposite side. But the same Badri showed his other side. During his Ranji Trophy debut, he showed how a century can be scored in one session.”

“So he came with the drips set-up in an ambulance and played. He removed all that and went in. Again defence and a match-saving hundred. Nobody knows about all this. Badri can do many things. He is the greatest example for everyone across generations.”

Badrinath played for India in only 2 Test matches while representing his country 7 times in ODIs. He also played one T20I for India. While being part of the CSK side, Badrinath scored 1441 runs at an average of 30.65