The apex court has asked BCCI to reconsider their punishment for Sreesanth.
S Sreesanth, who was given a massive relief on Friday, March 15 in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing case by the Supreme Court of India, is now hopeful of reviving his cricketing career on the field.
The Kerala pacer wasn't fully acquainted but the life ban enforced over him by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) got removed after the ruling from the final court of appeal. And hence, Sreesanth, who has been released on bail but still faces separate criminal proceedings in the Delhi High Court, felt absolutely delighted.
"If Leander Paes can win Grand Slams at 42, I can at least play some cricket at 36," he was quoted saying by PTI. "I don’t know what life has in store for me after all these years. It’s six years and I haven’t played cricket, which was my life."
"I hope that the BCCI respects the verdict of the country’s highest court and allows me to at least get back to the cricket field. I hope that at least now I can walk to a school cricket ground and train there without being told that I am not allowed. I just want to play whatever cricket I can."
Sreesanth was arrested for spot-fixing during the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) season along with his Rajasthan Royals teammates Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila. The right-arm fast bowler once played 27 Tests for India and was part of the 2007 World T20 as well as 2011 ODI World Cup-winning teams.
"Your age is as much as you feel," he added. "I would again like to play club cricket in Scotland. I wanted to play last year but didn’t get permission. I can’t play club cricket in England at the moment as I have not played first-class cricket for six years now."
"I want to thank my in-laws, the Shekhawats. They trusted me and let their daughter marry me when the whole world didn’t trust me. My parents have gone through a lot during all these years. Trust me it wasn’t that easy all these years."
Sreesanth then informed that he still remains in touch with his ex-Indian teammates and said, "Yes, I do get calls or whatsapp messages from some of them. Bhajju paa (Harbhajan Singh) has spoken to me, Viru bhai (Virender Sehwag), Suresh (Raina) have kept in touch. I keep speaking to Robin (Uthappa) who is a dear friend."
Before thanking his family for all their support. Sreesanth once said that he would like to be free of all charges so that his little daughter can easily google her father's name without him getting uncomfortable about it.
"All these years, I would often sit and think that what should I be telling my kids and what would be their idea about me as a father. Now when they grow up, I can at least tell them that their father’s biggest strength was not ever giving up on a fight even in toughest of times," he said.
"They will know that their father was sent to jail, endured tough times, fought all the false allegations and came out stronger. They can imbibe strength from my story," Sreesanth concluded.