Suresh Raina welcomes former fast bowler to CSK with a heartfelt message

Chennai Super Kings have gone through a rough patch owing to match-fixing scandals. The team was handed a two-year suspension and subsequently, the Indian Premier League was staged without the team for two consecutive years. However, their ban has been lifted and the Men in Yellow are set to stage their comeback in the eleventh season of the tournament.

The team has recently retained MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja in the IPL retention event earlier in December. The franchise, recently, has also appointed Laxmipathy Balaji as the bowling coach for the upcoming edition of the T20 league. Suresh Raina, the discarded Indian batsman, recently expressed his joy on the selection of the former Indian fast-bowler.

The Uttar Pradesh batsman took to Twitter and shared a welcome message for the Tamil Nadu-born cricketer. Here’s the Tweet

Say hello to @ChennaiIPL's new bowling coach, #LBalaji. Having played with him over the years, I can surely say, he is a Nice man, a?Man.@ChennaiIPL ☝️? pic.twitter.com/nB1oZuH0On

— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) January 21, 2018

An illustrious IPL career for Balaji   

Laxmipathy Balaji started his Indian Premier League career playing for the Chennai Super Kings and even notched a hat-trick for the MS Dhoni-led side. However, after a couple of seasons, he moved to the Kolkata Knight Riders where he played two seasons. Nevertheless, the Knight Riders released him before the 2013 season.

The bowler returned to the Knight Riders setup as the bowling coach in the 2017 edition of the tournament after which CSK bagged him as their bowling mentor. Unlike his illustrious IPL career, Balaji’s international career never really took off. He toured Australia and Pakistan with the Indian team and lived up to expectations.

However, inconsistencies and injuries marred his career and he was never able to cement his spot in the Indian team. He made a comeback to the national team during India’s ICC World T20 campaign in 2012 in Sri Lanka, but never played a game thereafter. He eventually bid adieu to the game in September 2016.

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