Watch: Ravichandran Ashwin shared a video of Indian seamer Balaji K bowling with a comical run-up for Thiruvarur in the SS Rajan T20 tournament in Tamil Nadu.
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Playing in the SS Rajan T20 Tournament, organised by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, Balaji recently caught the attention of veteran India off-spinner Ashwin for possessing an unusual bowling action.
Balaji has a bag of tricks in his armoury. From bowling an over with six different actions to changing run-up and grip in between, he has all it takes to baffle a batter.
In an Instagram story, Ashwin had posted a video of the bowler plying his trade, saying, “Balaji is my new addiction.”
Fan Code, the lead broadcaster of the tournament, shared a video of Balaji bowling at the death in a match between Thiruvarur and Tirupattur after Ashwin had tagged them on his Instagram Story.
Bowling the 18th over, Balaji was seen coming from around the wicket, sliding one across to beat the batter, followed by a single off the next ball. On the third ball, he switched to bowling from over the wicket, foxing the batter once more. The fourth delivery was accompanied by the most baffling and bizarre run-up of the lot, yielding only a single.
Two singles were scored in the last two balls as well, with Balaji changing his side yet again while coming from around the wicket to bowl the fifth before finishing with a delivery from a high release point.
Watch Indian seamer bowl with bizarre action
Because having just one bowling action is too mainstream.
Good spot @ashwinravi99 👏
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.#SSRajanT20 pic.twitter.com/9zHIaREIoT— FanCode (@FanCode) February 8, 2024