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Will the swing and smile return?

S. RAM MAHESH

"I'm fit as a batsman, fit as a spinner, just not yet fit as a fast bowler," says Lakshmipathy Balaji on what has kept him out of the game

ALL WORKOUT, NO PLAY Lakshmipathy Balaji

"Where is he? What has happened to him?" asked Imran Khan during a recent television show.

The great all-rounder, who frequently left in his trail a mass of palpitating female admirers during his day, wanted to know why the man who had taken Pakistan's fans by storm the last time India visited, wasn't along for the trip now.

Why was Lakshmipathy Balaji — whose name was immortalised in a customised version of a Bollywood number across the border — home alone?

A baseball cap askew, tucking in the mane that used to billow behind him as he ran in to bowl, Bala stretches a stubborn hamstring under the supervision of the team physio. He is in the process of returning to fitness.

"I'm fit as a batsman, fit as a spinner, just not yet fit as a fast bowler," says the 24-year-old about the side strain that has kept him out of cricket. "Only during the landing of my foot when I bowl, is there pain. Otherwise I'm fine."

Popular in Pakistan

Last time in Pakistan, he was in the thick of things — swinging the ball, breaking through at crucial moments and even smiting the mighty Shoaib Akthar into the crowd. Pakistan's public took to him; he still doesn't know exactly why.

"Maybe it was that six off Shoaib, maybe the expression on my face where it looks like I smile all the time," he says seriously. "I don't. No one smiles all the time, especially not when the ball goes to the boundary. I felt I reached out to the people, and they really liked my attitude. I remember the Q and A session with the students of a college in Lahore (LUMS), where there were me and Rahul and Irfan and Parthiv. The students got excited on seeing me and started chanting my name," says Bala, before adding as an afterthought, "it was very nice".

How did he find Pakistan? "After 15 years, which is a big gap, we went there and we had fears about our reception. But we were received in a great manner. There have been some incidents in the past, but there were no distractions this time and they really encouraged the Indian team.

"It's not similar, there is no comparison to the South (of India). But it's a lot like the North, just a few differences in their attitude and the way of living. The security on tour was very tight, and we didn't get a chance to look at the country. We went to the Wagah border, and to an orphanage, but it was mainly ground to hotel, no shopping, no partying."

No partying? Whatever did they do after they won the one-day series and subsequently became the first Indian team to win a Test series in Pakistan? "We did our team hug and stuff, no dancing or anything, just really enjoyed the moment after the ODIs. But we left the day after the final Test, and there wasn't too much time."

So how tough is it to catch the action on TV this time instead of being part of it? Bala turns philosophical, not something those who open the bowling are particularly renowned for; or at least that's what batsmen would have you believe.

"As a fast bowler, injuries happen and you have to deal with them as they happen. It's a temporary thing. This is what God has given me; I'm pleased with the way my life has gone. A lot of people have wanted to play for the country, not all of them have."

Bala says he's close to full fitness, and that his mates have been supportive — "Irfan called. Anil bhai and Rahul really encouraged me." The outswinger will start to show itself soon. The dazzling smile will follow.

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