Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul, who have been suspended from the Indian team by BCCI after their misogynist comments on the 'Koffee with Karan' show caused a huge uproar, have found some support in banned Indian cricketer S. Sreesanth.
"I will only say that whatever happened was very bad, but the World Cup is around the corner. Both Hardik and Rahul are both good cricketers...," Sreesanth said.
"I will only say to Hardik and Rahul, that surely they are both match-winners and sooner or later they will be back on the field. Yes, I know how difficult it is for a cricketer to miss the game and I just hope BCCI allows them to play, once they realise I am sure they should be playing where they should be playing,” he added.
Sreesanth said that other players who have done bigger misdeeds had gotten away with it in the past and slammed them for targeting the duo now.
"Yes, what happened was wrong. They said some wrong things. But there are others whose have made bigger mistakes than these, who are still playing and are in different fields not just cricket. The same people are speaking about this. When they see an opportunity they pounce on it like tigers," Sreesanth said.
Sreesanth was arrested in a spot-fixing scandal in 2013 and was banned for life. He also hoped that the playing ban on him would be lifted soon and said, "On top of that, if my ban gets lifted this month or next month, then I will be the happiest...”
Sreesanth said that he would just walk away from the game if he realized that he is not up to scratch.
"If not, I will call it a day because a lot of youngsters are there and it will be great for Indian cricket as well as my Kerala state. I should not be hanging around because I am Sreesanth and the ban got lifted. I will be more than happy with all the respect. If I am not doing well, I will walk away from the game," Sreesanth said.
Sreesanth also dabbled into politics, fighting elections on a BJP ticket, said that he wanted his popularity to help his party.
"I will also use my popularity to lift my party. My party is like a family to me. I will work with them," he said.
(With indiatoday.in inputs)
