Interview with WD Balaji Rao
On whether age-group cricket served as a grounding for him
Naturally. Before playing the first class game, I played for junior India,
i.e. India Under 19 for four years. It helped a lot because the game was
totally different from what we used to play in Under 13 and Under 16. It
was tougher and we played against better players.  Listen
On his first class debut
In the game against England A, I got 2 & 5 wickets. From that time on I got
a lot of confidence and I became a better bowler. Mark Ramprakash, Dominic
Cork and Alan Wells were there and I got the wickets of Ramprakash and
Wells. It was really good.Listen
On whether switching between Tamil Nadu and Railways has prevented him from
settling down
No I don't think so. I just got a good offer from Railways, so at that time
I thought it was better to play for them. But I always love playing for
Tamil Nadu. You've got better players, so I enjoy playing here.Listen
On whether he's received formal coaching
Mr CS Umapathy and Mr JR Maruti used to coach me. My father actually
started a coaching camp in Madras. Right from the age of 8-9, I was in the
coaching camp.Listen
On fellow leg spinners who've inspired him
Mr L Sivaramakrishnan has helped me and Mr VV Kumar too. Of late, I spoke
to Kumble also. Even he has helped me a lot.Listen
On how he took up leg spin bowling
Actually my Dad was a leg spinner. He captained Reserve Bank when it was in
the second division, so basically seeing him bowling, I got motivated and
wanted to try leg spin.Listen
On his memorable matches
The game against England and when I played for Tamil Nadu against Bombay at
Tirunelveli. It was the first time in our history that we won against
Bombay. I got four wickets in the first innings. Sachin and Kambli didn't
play but the rest of the guys, Jatin Paranjpe, Amol Majumdar, Paras
Mhambrey, Sairaj Bahutule were there.Listen
On his performance with Tamil Nadu this season
I'm pretty well happy. Actually we played on really good tracks this year
and I've been the highest wicket taker as yet, so I'm really happy with my
performance.Listen
On his strengths
Basically in first class cricket you have to really be patient. Its not
like junior cricket where you get away with bad balls. My strength is I can
turn my googlies a lot. I think most of my wickets I've got with googlies
because batsmen really can't see my fingers, that's what I feel.Listen
On the areas he'd like to improve on
In international cricket, you have to be an allrounder to come into the
team. So I think I should work more on my batting and also improve my
fielding. It doesn't mean I'm not a good fielder but I think I can improve.Listen
On the recent Deodhar final when he starred with the bat
It was very satisfying because we had no hopes. It was just a do or die
situaton. We had nothing to lose. Central had something to lose because
they were in the winning position. We went for it and Robin said carry on
till the last over. So we just tried to push the game till the last over in
which we needed 11 runs and luckily we got it.Listen
On the other variations in his armoury
I spoke to Mr Rajan Bala, he also helped me a lot. He taught me how to bowl
top spinners and flippers, so I'm working on it.Listen
On his goals for the rest of the season
Any youngster you ask, he'll say I want to play for India. It's the same
goal I've got. Given a chance, I think I'll prove that I'm worth it.Listen
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