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 (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

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

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

. 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 an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. In 1997

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-scor ...

, 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 , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

, 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 an ...

. Rajan died in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

on 9 October 2009 due to

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, 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 failure is classified as eit ...

. 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 historians and writers 1940s births 2009 deaths {{Asia-journalist-stub