Cricketer Balaji Weds Priya Thalur: Sivakarthikeyan, Badrinath, Muttiah Muralitharan and Others Attend

Cricketer Lakshmipathi Balaji tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend Priya Thalur in a private ceremony in Chennai on 16 September.

Some prominent members of the Tamil film fraternity and cricketers turned up for the occasion and blessed the couple. Most of the cricketers from the Indian team gave the wedding a miss, but Balaji's close friends and fellow cricketers from Chennai - Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath and Anirudha Srikkanth - were present to wish the couple.

BCCI president-in-exile N Srinivasan also attended the wedding, which could have possibly been his first outing in a long time after the IPL controversy. Srinivasan appeared at the wedding hall as early as 6 am and was received by Balaji. He stayed at the marriage hall for a while to watch the ongoing rituals, reported The Times of India.

Some film celebrities including "Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam" actor Sivakarthikeyan, Janani Iyer, Subhalekha Sudhakar, singer SP Sailaja, comedian Chinni Jayanth, director Vasanth and TV host Ramya among others, also attended the recepetion. [To look at pictures, click here]

Cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan and his family, Badrinath were also spotted at the wedding reception. There were also several models and fashion designers.

Lakshmipathy Balaji, a right-arm medium-fast bowler, joined the Indian team in 2003 and played his test debut against New Zealand. He emerged as one of India's leading fast bowlers, thanks to his extraordinary performance at the India-Pakistan series in 2004.

But a stress fracture kept him away from playing for the Indian team for three years. He had to undergo a back surgery and was ruled out of cricket. He returned to domestic cricket in 2007 and made a good comeback in the first season of IPL in 2008, when he played for Chennai Super Kings. A successful Ranji season was followed after which he was called to play for the national team replacing an injured Munaf Patel, according to ESPN Crickinfo. Balaji was purchased by Kolkata Knight Riders in the fourth season of the IPL in 2011.

His bride Priya Thalur is a Chennai-based model. The newly-wed couple are expected to organise a big party in Mumbai and invite other members of the Indian cricket team.

IBTimes wishes the couple a happy married life!