Rajan Bala (1945 or 1946 – 9 October 2009), who used a shortened form of his full name Natarajan Balasubramaniam, was a noted

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. Best known as someone who toured with every Indian cricket team from 1968 to 2003, Rajan Bala was technically accomplished in cricket techniques even though he was a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. In 1997

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...

, who was having some problems with his technique, approached him for advice. Rajan was not afraid to back a player who he felt had potential. A graduate of the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, he decided to trust his heart and involve himself in

. Rajan earned the respect of many all-time great cricketers including Tiger Pataudi. He also wrote many books on cricket, including biographies of Tendulkar and

Bhagwat Chandrasekhar Bhagwat Subramanya Chandrasekhar (informally Chandra; born 17 May 1945) is an Indian former cricketer who played as a leg spinner. Considered among the top echelon of leg spinners, Chandrasekhar along with E.A.S. Prasanna, Bishen Singh Bedi a ...

. Rajan died in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

on 9 October 2009 due to

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

. His last book, a memoir titled ''Days Well Spent'', was released a month later. He was 63 years old, and was survived by his wife and two sons.

Books

*''Kiwis and Kangaroos, India, 1969'' (1970) *''All the Beautiful Boys'' (1990) *''The Winning Hand: Biography of B. S. Chandrasekhar'' (1993) *''The Phenomenon: Sachin Tendulkar'' (1999) *''Glances at Perfection: The Story of Indian Cricket Technique'' (2002) *''The Covers Are Off: A Socio-Historical Study of Indian Cricket'' (2004) *''Days Well Spent: A Cricketing Odyssey'' (2009)

References

Alumni of the London School of Economics Cricket writers 1940s births 2009 deaths {{Asia-journalist-stub