Straight Drive with Balaji

When we started to pick up the threads of this blog we never really thought that we would be left with many valuable lessons of life. But the blog has left us a lot wiser and when such kind of pleasant situations arise we at Gen-next feel it is our responsibility to share the experiences with all of our dear Readers. In this feature of Straight Drive we are proud to present a very candid and up-front conversation with former cricket writer V. Balaji who also happens to be R. Ashwin's Manager now.

On Balaji's Childhood Days and his fondness for Cricket

Balaji's association with the game of Cricket started when he was very young.

As most Indian kids, he picked bat and ball and started playing at the age of six. He has represented Vidya Mandir at the school level. Balaji moved to Ebenezer Marcus for completing his plus two education. It was at this stage that he started understanding his own game better. Balaji has played league cricket (2nd division). At a critical juncture in his playing career two knee injuries crushed his dreams of playing the game at a professional level, any further. But his love for the game continued unabated to such an extent that him not being able to play the game any more left him with strong withdrawal symptoms. It was tough for him not tot think about the game. In the pre-internet era, Balaji would wake up at five in the morning to read The Hindu. He would keep himself abreast with the latest in the world of cricket including statistics with neatly cut newspaper clippings. In a frenzied moment the teenager in him gave way to emotions and he tore up the carefully collected paper scores of his in the Hindu and Indian Express. Not that he considered himself to be a great cricketer but the very thought that he could not play cricket affected him emotionally. Cricket was and is very dear to him. Balaji was just Nineteen years old at that time, an age where emotion rules over maturity, Balaji was shattered to come around the fact that his tryst with a game that he so much loved had ended (as a player). That he could no longer compete was a bit of a dampener.

Now what is about to follow is in our opinion a huge lesson. When you love something very passionately it will come back to you in a different form. All it requires is patience and persistence to keep following your passion and not give up at any stage. 

A lettered and Passionate Professional Career

Balaji joined Amex in 1997. He in his own words says that he was at a crossroads in life where the road left took him to a three-year contract with Amex. He was on his bike at Gemini circle, almost taking the road towards Amex, out of the blue there was a call from a HR consultant who asked him if he would be interested to join Clickcricket.com as a Content Consultant. It was the beginning of the Internet boom plus the job took him back to the game that he loved so much. So it was goodbye to Uncle Sam and back to bat and ball (albeit in a different form). His life changed over the next four years. He was very happy that he took the straight road.  Some very pulsating data points here. As a part of his job he is credited to digitizing Cricket Australia's Coaching manual in India. Wow that is indeed some amount of content. He has written around 30000 questions for cricinfo. He has been involved as a web commentator for more than 100 international matches for sify, Rediff, Airtel and Wisden combined. Balaji has worked for other web publications as well. Dial 646 those days and you would hear Balaji regaling his audience with cricket commentary. By mid 2003 he got into print journalism and till 2013 travelled the world writing cricket for the Deccan Chronicle/Asian Age as their sports Editor. He quit full time journalism in 2014, last writing for Wisden India. 

A Cricket match Balaji fondly recalls and the Game he loved earned him friends for life

A match he remembers is the India Pakistan match at Chepauk where the Pakistan team was accorded a warm lap of honour by the Cricket loving Chennai audience. In His Capacity as the Sports editor for Deccan Chronicle Balaji has covered 30 Test matches. He has made some great friends in the field of journalism like Ram Mahesh, Anand Vasu, KC Vijay Kumar and R. Kaushik to name a few. He also built a great rapport with cricketers like Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble. , Incidentally Balaji also saw the latest format grow into a massive brand, reporting the first five IPL finals.

Balaji's views on Coaching

He says in his own humble way that he is not qualified enough to talk about coaching. As a part of the Gen-Next Global tour to Dubai he took up the role of a coach. Balaji was forced to travel as the regular coach had to miss out due to personal reasons. Ashwin felt that Balaji could be an excellent coach and requested him to take up the mantel. Balaji feels that he has a decent basic understanding of the game. In one of the conversations that Balaji had with Rahul Dravid, the legend had expressed his opinion that one of the reasons for us not producing quality spinners is because of the fact that they are getting over-coached. The responsibility of the coach should be to assist the ward under him, with the knowledge of the game, sharpen his skills and then take a backseat.

Balajis Association with Ashwin

When Balaji first saw Ashwin he was 16-17 years old playing 1st division league for Spic. The first time that Balaji met Ashwin he knew that there was something that is special about this 16 year old who was losing his last few embers of chubbiness. He stood out more as a person than a cricketer. It was a little later that that Ashwin made his Ranji debut, Balaji would notice that here is a young cricketer who would never really get satisfied with the what he had achieved. Ashwin always wanted to stretch that little extra, to go a notch higher. This is indeed a quality that is the thing line differentiating between being very good and being world class. Balaji always knew that Ashwin was a class apart. Discussions would go on sometimes till 2 AM in the morning outside Balaji's house. What Balaji saw in Ashwin was an undiluted passion for the game. When Ashwin says he loves the game, he means every word of it. Balaji is quite strong in his opinion when he says that if a situation arises that there is no money tomorrow in the game of cricket, Ashwin would still be vying to play tennis ball cricket. Such is his passion for the game.

Fond memories and Incidents involving Ashwin

This goes back to the touring days of Ashwin as a Cricketer and Balaji as a cricket reporter. On one of the tours to Sri Lanka, Balaji was totally dependent on Ashwin for good vegetarian food. In Dambula, Ashwin will call Balaji whenever there was some good old kichidi or Maggi. Balaji says that Ashwin would go out of his way to take care of him. Both of them would converse a lot. In one of those conversations Balaji complained a little about other players. Ashwin in a jocular fashion would nudge his Balaji anna not to complain about the players since he might end up leading the same players one day in the near future. This incident remains etched in Balajis memory and so for us it remains a very big lesson. A true leader needs to be unbiased on his opinion about his people or team. He cannot be seen as being influenced by others thoughts and opinions. Thank you Balaji sir for sharing this incident with us so candid in your thoughts. Even in His early days into the Indian Cricket team Ashwin was very concerned about the facilities being provided to the cricketers, about the development of the game, coaching and other aspects of the game. Balaji would often wonder why Ashwin at such a tender age would think so deeply but then that's how leaders are made. We have just picked up another pearl. A leader not withstanding his age or experience has foresight and vision much more than his age. Always pay heed to such leaders and follow them.

Balaji's advice for Parents

As you enjoyed marbles, tops and kites in your childhood allow your child to play with marbles, tops and kites and let him enjoy his cricket the same way. It really does not matter if does not make it to the under-16 state team. It does not matter if he does not get an IPL contract. Balaji says that the day (if) his son decides to pick up the bat or for that matter any sport, it is his responsibility to see that the child gets best of sporting equipment and the very best of academies to train in. A parent should never be seen as trying to influence the coach or the selectors. Allow the kid to enjoy, express himself. As a parent your must be happy that your kid gave their full effort.

About the Coaching Methodologies being adopted at Gen-next

Balaji feels that the methodologies being adopted by Gen-next are refreshing. He feels that coaches here bring in innovation that is sadly missing in most of today's coaching institutes. He also feels that the modern game of cricket has taken rapid strides in terms of development. There is more stress that is being laid on the physical fitness of a player. Gen-next addresses this need as well. Balaji feels that addressing core issues that are specific to present day demands are vital for a coaching institute like Gen-next. Therefore when the charter for the institute was being drawn out, the founding principle of Gen-next would be that we are not here to just produce good cricketers but also good human beings.