I could have aimed for the all-rounder's spot: S Badrinath recalls his brief international career  

S Badrinath is among those cricketers who played for India in an era where the batting order was already settled and there were lots of talented players waiting on the fringes. Unsurprisingly, his career was limited to only 10 games.

Speaking about his stint with the Indian team, S Badrinath felt that he may have gotten a longer rope in the team had he changed his approach and concentrated on his bowling.

“I tried everything within my reach. The batting order was really packed with Sachin, Rahul, Laxman, Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj,” S Badrinath told Hindustan Times.

“But one thing that I may have done was focus a bit on my bowling. I could have aimed for that allrounder’s slot because I was a pretty decent offspinner and I’d taken some wickets. I also didn’t have help at the time. Rather than focussing entirely on my batting, I could have fitted as an all-rounder – batting at No. 6 or 7, be a third spinning option. Batting wise, I couldn’t have done anything more. I did my best,” S Badrinath added.

Apart from his brief international career and immense success in the First-Class circuit, S Badrinath distinguished himself in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The right-handed batsman scored 1441 IPL runs from 95 matches at an average of 30.65 before retiring in 2013. For the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), his primary role was to hold the innings together.

T20 cricket is not just about sixes: S Badrinath

Talking about his technique in T20 cricket, S Badrinath said that the shortest format was not just about boundaries, adding that a player like Kane Williamson had proved so.

“T20 cricket… you need to play like this, hit the ball in the air, hit sixes all the time. It’s not true, because once you have a really basic solid game, you can play any game. The prime example today is Kane Williamson. You see he is a proper batsman but he’s equally good in T20s," S Badrinath elaborated.