Banned Indian cricketer Sreesanth’s long wait to return to cricket might end soon, as the Kerala state team is ready to welcome the pacer back in the team once his spot-fixing ban ends this September.
Sreesanth, who has not played a competitive match since May 2013, is currently serving a BCCI ban for his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal. However, the Indian cricket board banned the pacer for life, but it was reduced to seven years after he moved to Supreme Court against the order last year and now, he finally will be eligible to return to cricket after September.
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On Thursday, June 18, the newly-appointed Kerala bowling coach Tinu Yohannan has revealed that the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) will consider Sreesanth for the upcoming Ranji Trophy season after he completes his ban in September.
However, Yohannan said the former India pacer’s selection will depend on his fitness, saying Sreesanth will have to prove his fitness and undergo a test to be considered for selection for the upcoming Ranji Trophy season. The coach said Sreesanth has enough time to work on his fitness.
As per PTI, Yohannan said: “Sreesanth will be considered for this year's Ranji Trophy. We are looking forward to having Sreesanth playing for Kerala again. It’s not that he is selected in the probables. We want Sreesanth to be playing again. Everyone in Kerala is also looking forward to that.”
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The former pacer further added, “His (Sreesanth's) ban will be lifted in September. The good thing is that there is time for him to get ready. He is working hard on his game and his fitness. Then we will have to assess his physical fitness and game skills. Sree (Sreesanth) is always in the scheme of things.”
India’s domestic season is expected to begin in August, but it could be rescheduled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and Yohannan also admitted a lot of uncertainty about the game's resumption.
The Kerala coach said, “There is a lot of uncertainty going on about what will happen and there has been no cricketing activity since March. We are waiting for government directives to know when we are playing again, conduct a camp so that we start planning about the practice and the team,”
Yohannan also revealed that he has been in “constant touch” with India’s two-time World Cup winner Sreesanth who is raring to make comeback to the game.
He signed off by saying, “Sreesanth has been in constant touch with me. He has been working hard on his bowling and fitness. However, he has not played competitive cricket for some seven years now, we have to evaluate fitness and skills. But we will be very happy to welcome him back into the Kerala side.”
Noteworthy, Sreesanth has played 27 Tests and 53 ODIs and went on to scalp 87 and 75 wickets respectively in the two formats along with seven wickets in 10 T20 Internationals for India.
(With PTI Inputs)
