IPL playerIndia2008 to 2014
Lakshmipathy Balaji
On scorecards: L Balaji · Right-hand bat
Lakshmipathy Balaji, a bowler, played seven IPL seasons for three franchises. Two titles came along the way.
The arrival
Lakshmipathy Balaji was there from the start, in the league's first season, 2008, signed by Chennai Super Kings outside the auction.
That first season brought 9 matches and 11 wickets at 8.67 an over.
The peak
The best season was 2009, for Chennai Super Kings: 13 wickets at 8.46 runs an over, while the league's bowlers went for 7.28, with best figures of 4 for 21.
Franchise by franchise
2008 to 2010, Chennai Super Kings. 29 matches and 31 wickets; champions in 2010.
2011 to 2013, Kolkata Knight Riders. Bought at the 2011 auction for ₹2.25 cr. 35 matches and 33 wickets; champions in 2012.
2014, Kings XI Punjab. Bought at the 2014 auction for ₹1.80 cr. 9 matches and 12 wickets.
3 spells with three franchises in all. The longest was with Chennai Super Kings, 2008 to 2010.
How the wickets came
With the ball, 76 wickets in 1,516 deliveries, at 8.03 runs an over against a league rate of 7.66 for the same seasons: 0.36 an over more expensive than the typical bowler of the time, the price of a bowler who took wickets often. There were four four-wicket hauls, and the best figures were 5 for 24.
35.5% of the balls Lakshmipathy Balaji bowled were dots, a higher share than 55% of the 150 bowlers with 500 balls or more; a wicket came every 19.9 balls.
The fielding record: 9 catches and 4 run-outs.
At the auction
Lakshmipathy Balaji went under the hammer twice. The highest price was ₹2.25 cr (US$500k), paid by Kolkata Knight Riders in 2011, more than 5 times the base price.
Seasons without an auction entry were played under a retention, a trade or a signing made outside the auction.
The legacy
Lakshmipathy Balaji made 73 IPL appearances, the last for Kings XI Punjab in 2014, and won 3 player-of-the-match awards.
Season by season
| Season | Team | M | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 50/100 | Wkts | Econ | Best | Ct | POTM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Chennai Super Kings | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | – | 0/0 | 11 | 8.67 | 5/24 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2009 | Chennai Super Kings | 13 | 4 | 2* | 2.0 | 40.0 | 0/0 | 13 | 8.46 | 4/21 | 3 | ||
| 2010 | Chennai Super Kings | 7 | 18 | 15 | 9.0 | 90.0 | 0/0 | 7 | 8.81 | 2/9 | 1 | Champions | |
| 2011 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 14 | 4 | 3* | – | 200.0 | 0/0 | 10 | 8.31 | 3/15 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2012 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 8 | 0 | – | – | – | 0/0 | 11 | 5.40 | 4/18 | 1 | 1 | Champions |
| 2013 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 13 | 9 | 9* | 9.0 | 90.0 | 0/0 | 12 | 7.74 | 3/19 | 2 | ||
| 2014 | Kings XI Punjab | 9 | 1 | 1* | 1.0 | 33.3 | 0/0 | 12 | 8.75 | 4/13 | 0 |
Franchise journey
- Chennai Super Kings: 2008 to 2010
- Kolkata Knight Riders: 2011 to 2013
- Kings XI Punjab: 2014
Ball-by-ball detail
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Dot balls faced | 57.1% |
| Balls per four | 24.5 |
| Balls per six | 49 |
| Dot balls bowled | 35.5% |
| Balls per wicket | 19.9 |
| Catches | 9 |
| Run-outs | 4 |
| Stumpings | 0 |
At the auction
Sources
- CricArcade IPL season statistics
- CricArcade IPL auction archive
- Kaggle IPL Complete Match Dataset 2008-2026, ball-by-ball, cross-checked against Cricsheet