first hat-trick of the IPL tournament in the match against Kings XI Punjab at Chennai, and rounded off the evening with a match-winning five-wicket haul. His tournament was to end on a low as he bowled the final over to Shane Warne and Sohail Tanvir, with the latter hitting the winning runs off the final ball. Since his successful spinal operation in England by Prof. John Dowell he has returned to full form. Balaji has been notably consistent for the economy rate in all T20 matches in the IPL Chennai Super Kings as the normal matches of T20 seldom had run chases below or near 130 . He has not done much in the batting side of IPL. In the second season of the Indian Premier League, he picked four wickets against Rajasthan Royals on 30 April 2009, leading the Chennai Super Kings to victory. In the 3rd season of IPL, Balaji played 7 games and picked up 7 wickets. After won the tournament and went on to play the ACLT20, Balaji played most of the games in the tournament and his economical bowling was praised by the captain of the Indian team, MS Dhoni and was listed by him as one of the reasons to CSK's victory in the tournament. In the fourth season of the IPL, he was purchased by Kolkata Knight Riders. In the seventh season of the IPL, he was purchased by Kings XI Punjab. Coaching career He was appointed as bowling coach and mentor for Kolkata Knight Riders. For the 2018 IPL edition, he was appointed as the bowling coach for Chennai Super Kings. He decided to take a one-year break from the post in 2022, citing personal reasons, but continued to be available for Super Kings Academy. References Sources L Balaji calls time on first-class, List A career, 16 September 2016 1981 births Living people India Test cricketers India One Day International cricketers India Twenty20 International cricketers Indian cricketers Tamil Nadu cricketers Tamil sportspeople Chennai Super Kings cricketers Kolkata Knight Riders cricketers South Zone cricketers Wellington cricketers India Green cricketers India Red cricketers Cricketers from Chennai Indian cricket coaches Punjab Kings cricketers