Bangalore, Oct 9 Eminent cricket writer Natarajan Balasubramaniam, better known as Rajan Bala in the sports fraternity, passed away here Friday. He was 63.

He had suffered a stroke and was admitted to hospital a fortnight back and was in coma since then. He never regained consciousness and passed away here Friday morning. He was also undergoing dialysis for quite some time.

Rajan Bala had been covering cricket for more than four decades and worked in several leading newspapers including the Statesman, the Hindu, the Indian Express and the Deccan Herald.

He also authored many cricket books - his first book being 'Kiwis and Kangaroos', an account of New Zealand's tour to India in 1969. Rajan Bala had also written biographies of Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Sachin Tendulkar. His latest book 'Time Well Spent' will hit the stores this week. (IANS)