The first thing that comes to people’s minds when they think about former Indian cricketer Lakshmipathy Balaji is the smile he wore after every delivery he bowled. Just like his smile, his unwavering spirit made him dear to cricket fans. Balaji made his international debut in an ODI against West Indies in 2002. His Test debut came against New Zealand in 2003. Balaji did not have the most memorable of starts to his international career as he was thrashed for 44 runs in the first four overs he bowled in his maiden ODI. After being dropped from the team after a poor Test series against New Zealand, Balaji returned to the team in 2003-04. Along with Irfan Pathan, Balaji was instrumental in India’s first Test series win in Pakistan with 12 wickets. He was struck with a career-ending injury in 2005 but made his return in 2008. It was, however, in the Indian Premier League and first-class cricket that he shone in the latter stages of his career. In a career spanning over 100 first-class games, Balaji took 330 wickets. He called it quits from first-class and List A cricket in 2016.