Balaji Rao (Canadian cricketer)

Balaji Rao

Personal information
Full name	Wandavasi Dorakanti Balaji Rao
Born	(1978-03-04) 4 March 1978 (age 46) Chennai, India
Nickname	Kutty
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Right-arm leg-break
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	Canada (2008–2011)
ODI debut (cap 62)	24 August 2008 v West Indies
Last ODI	16 March 2011 v Australia
T20I debut (cap 14)	10 October 2008 v Pakistan
Last T20I	13 October 2008 v Zimbabwe
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I Matches 10 4 Runs scored 59 32 Batting average 7.37 10.66 100s/50s 0/0 0/0 Top score 24 22* Balls bowled 474 84 Wickets 12 6 Bowling average 37.33 17.83 5 wickets in innings 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 0 Best bowling 4/57 3/21 Catches/stumpings 3/– 1/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 16 July 2024

Wandavasi Dorakanti Balaji Rao (born 4 March 1978) is an Indian-Canadian former cricketer who played 10 One Day Internationals and four Twenty20 Internationals for Canada between 2008 and 2011. Earlier in his career, he made appearances for the India national under-19 cricket team.^[1]

Cricket career

Balaji represented Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy. He played for the Centurions Cricket Club, a large cricket organization in Toronto.^[2]

Controversies

On 3 March 2011, in the 2011 Cricket World Cup match between Canada and Pakistan, following an aggressive exchange between Pakistani bowler Umar Gul, Rao, who was batting, lashed out with Hindi slurs after Pakistani fielder Ahmed Shehzad appeared to provoke the batsman.^[3]

References

1. "Balaji Rao". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
2. "Championships". Centurions CC. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
3. "Moments of the World Cup: Balaji Rao puts Canada on the sledging map, 2011". Sify. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018.

External links

• Balaji Rao at ESPNcricinfo