Among the finest to have batted at the Indian domestic level, Subramaniam Badrinath's international career for India, however, lasted only 10 games. In which, he says, he "tried everything within my reach" but could never cement his spot, as the batting line-up in both Test and white-ball sides at the time was "packed".
Badrinath's two Tests, seven ODIs and one T20I came in 2010-11, when the Test side still had Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, three of whom were also playing in the ODI side, where the middle-order featured the likes of Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, leaving no place in either unit for Badrinath.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, the 39-year-old said the only thing he perhaps could've done differently is to try and focus a lot more on his off-spinners and progress as an all-rounder.
"I tried everything within my reach. The batting order was really packed with Sachin, Rahul, Laxman, Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj," said Badrinath, who played 145 first-class matches with 10,245 runs at an average of 54.49 and had a solid technique.
"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," he added.
Meanwhile, Badrinath, who once played his part in the success of MS Dhoni-led IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as a situational anchor, said there is still room for technical correctness in T20, adding that players with a solid base are able to adjust their game according to the format.
"T20 cricket… (people think) 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," said the right-hander.
"The prime example today is Kane Williamson. You see he is a proper batsman but he’s equally good in T20s. Same was with Michael Hussey."
“I always take these names. They are not the biggest hitters around but they’ve been really successful T20 cricketers. If you don’t have a strong basic game, you cannot play other formats – 50-over or Test cricket," added Badrinath, having bid farewell to the professional game in September 2018.
