Kolkata: Tainted Indian pacer S. Sreesanth finally took the cricket field after a gap of four years as he led his team in an exhibition match at the very same ground where he began playing cricket.
He was cheered by all present at the place at that point of time and he was also gifted roses by both the teams when entered the field.
Sreesanth was the captain of his team- Playback singers XI as they played against Producers XI. The pacer opened the batting and did a good job with the willow.
He was the chief guest at the club and hoisted the national flag as the country celebrated it’s 71st Independence Day.
Said Sreesanth, “I am really happy that I am back and I am beginning my return from the same ground where it all began. Now from here, I want to reach Thiruvananthapuram and from there upwards and back to the Indian team.”
This would have indeed made the right-arm paceman happy as he is eagerly waiting for the BCCI to lift the life-time ban it had slapped on him back in 2013 when he was involved in a spot-fixing scandal in the IPL.
On August 7, Sreesanth’s hopes and dreams for representing India got a huge boost when the Kerala High Court lifted up the ban that the BCCI had imposed on him.
The Indian cricket board didn’t nullify Sreesanth’s life ban even after he was acquitted of all spot-fixing charges by a Delhi court, a case which invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
The BCCI’s failure to lift the ban made Sreesanth move to the Kerala High Court.
Now, with the Kerala High Court already having lifted Sreesanth’s ban, the BCCI has decided to challenge this decision.
He was arrested on the 17th of May, 2013 along with his teammates- Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan who were involved in a spot-fixing scandal that had rocked the Indian Premier League.
The right-arm pacer from Kerala has 87 scalps to his name from the 27 Test matches he has played for India. He also has played 53 ODI’s where he has taken 75 wickets. In T20I’s, he has seven wickets from ten matches.