Gulam Bodi was born in India but emigrated to South Africa as a teenager and went on to represent SA Schools and played for the Under-19 side in the World Cup. He came close to a national call-up as well - he was summoned to the West Indies but broke a finger - but then slipped from the radar. It had been his left-arm chinamen that first caught the eye, but the bowling took a back seat as he concentrated on his batting. The introduction of Pro20 brought a new lease of life to his game and after a successful run in the top order for the Titans he was named in the Twenty20 World Championship squad.

However, he did not get a game in the tournament. Earlier, in August 2007 he had made a fifty on ODI debut against Zimbabwe and followed it with a cameo, but has been left out of the international scene since then.

Bodi, who was not seen as a first-choice opener by Titans largely due to the return of Jacques Rudolph, moved to Lions in January 2011. The following year he was a key part of Lions' run to the Champions League final. Bodi struck 208 runs in six matches, including three half-centuries, to finish as the second-highest run-getter in the league. The same year he was picked by Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League, but did not get a chance.

Bodi has scored over 10000 runs across first-class, List A and T20 cricket.
Cricinfo staff