Balaji

Chennai: After making reasonable use of the “god-given opportunity” in Australia, Lakshmipathy Balaji is itching to make his presence felt once again when India tour Pakistan next month.

“I might have performed well in Australia. But I am now looking forward to Pakistan, of course I should get selected first. I am praying to god that he gives me yet another opportunity to show my mettle,” Balaji said.

Talking about the Australian tour, he said: “it was a learning experience. I rate this as a god-given opportunity and a memorable one.

“The senior players, particularly my captain (Sourav Ganguly) and (Sachin) Tendulkar were of great help. It is very hard to get such an excellent captain who is always thinking about a better performance by his teammates.”

Elaborating on the success recipe against Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting, he said: “I was able to prevent the two hard hitters of the game from going berserk by just sticking to a good line and length.”

The Tamil Nadu paceman acknowledged that an earlier trip to Australia “to train at the academy in Adelaide was of great help.”

Asked which batsmen were the most difficult to bowl to at, he said: “It is rather difficult to bowl at the Australian top order, particularly Gilchrist, Hayden and Ponting.”