He was more popular than Imran Khan during Pakistan tour in 2004: Ashish Nehra lauds former Indian pacer

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Lakshmipathy Balaji is one of the most underrated cricketers ever to represent India. The former pacer impressed everyone with his bowling in the initial phase of his career. However, later injuries put a roadblock on his shinning career as he only managed to play 8 Tests, 30 ODIs and 5 T20Is during his 15-year long career.

Balaji came into the international circuit in 2002 but he started shining during India's 2003-04 tour of Pakistan. Interestingly, Balaji displayed his talent with both bat and ball during that tour.

He smacked Shoaib Akhtar's delivery directly into stands for a maximum, which brings a smile to not only on his face but also on every Indian cricket fans' face.

Former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra talked highly of Balaji and his performance on Pakistan tour. The tour where former Indian batsmen Virender Sehwag became the first India to slam a triple hundred and then skipper Rahul Dravid scored a fantastic double hundred was one of the most exciting series in history. Former pacer Irfan Pathan also picked a hat-trick during the Test series to script history.

"Those six weeks he was hitting sixes left right and centre there was no doubt about it. Virender Sehwag triple hundred, Rahul Dravid double hundred, Irfan Pathan performance, all that is there but to me off the field, Pakistan, the nation as a whole and Laxmipathy Balaji in the dressing room," Ashish Nehra told Star Sports.

"In the dressing room, Irfan can give you more stories, the only thing I remember is Laxmipathy Balaji on that particular tour. Maybe that time he was more popular than Imran Khan," he added.

Balaji proved his mettle with the bat at No. 10 in the five-match ODI series. He scored 45 runs out of which 36came in boundaries with 6 fours and 2 sixes. He also picked six-wickets and became joint-second highest wicket-taker along with Irfan Pathan in the series.

Balaji is currently donning the role of bowling coach for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. The cash-rich league was scheduled to begin from March 24, but is postponed indefinitely due to coronavirus outbreak.