Controversies and comebacks: Story of Sreesanth

Cricket is preached in India and cricketers are the heroes of the country as they get a lot of fame and attention during their playing days, and in some cases, even after retirement. All their actions are duly observed and because of so much complexities, some or the other sort of controversies are bound to happen. One such player whose career was vastly impacted due to controversies was Sreesanth.  His name was highlighted for all the wrong reasons several times during his career, be it 2013 spot fixing scandal, or an on ground tussle with Harbhajan Singh. His reputation outside the field created hindrances on his own success journey. It often overshadowed his achievements as a medium pacer. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall with great caliber as his height helped him in generating extra pace and bounce. By nature, he was an aggressive bowler who used to bowl his heart out. However, due to some unfortunate circumstances, he didn’t get to play as many international matches as he deserved to play.

 In this artifice by ZAP cricket, we will throw some light on the career of S. Sreesanth aka Sree

Early life and domestic career 

Born on 6 February, 1983, Sreesanth started playing cricket as a leg spinner, who idolized Anil Kumble. But his elder brother saw his potential as a medium pacer and recommended him to switch. 

Because of his raw talent, in 2000, he was selected in MRF pace foundation. Two years later, that is, in 2002, he made his Ranji trophy debut against Goa and was even selected in Duleep Trophy the same year.  

With consistent performance, In 2005, he was picked in the Challenger Trophy and from there on, he got selected in the Indian team for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. Later, he became the first Kerala Ranji Trophy player to play T20 for India. 

Due to his ban, Sreesanth couldn’t play any domestic match from 2013-2019. But , In 2020, he resumed his career and joined Kerala cricket team and played limited overs cricket in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. Then in 2022, he retired from all formats of cricket. 

International career of Sreesanth 

Sreesanth played his first international match on 25 October, 2005 V Sri Lanka.Next year he played his first red ball game on 1 March, 2006 V England, and finally he made his T20I debut on 1 December, 2006 V South Africa. 
He was a bowler who bowled with great accuracy. His biggest strength was his aggression and that actually defined his personality. He was young and supremely talented but because of some unfortunate instances, his career came to an end in a tragic manner. Cricket world might not remember his aggressive bowling but will surely associate him with the match fixing instance.

Sree was in the squad that lifted the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 Cricket World Cup. His contribution in 2007 was very vital as he took the final catch of Misbah at fine leg. That catch is remembered like Kapil Dev’s catch in 1983 World Cup or Suryakumar Yadav’s catch in 2024 World Cup.

International stats of Sreesanth 

Sreesanth in IPL 

In 2008, Sreesanth was picked by Kings XI Punjab and he played for them till 2010. Then in 2011, he was bought by Kochi Tuskers Kerala. Lastly, in 2013, he joined the Rajasthan Royals. It was the same year when he along with two teammates Ajit Chandela and Ankeet Chavan were arrested by police on charges of spot fixing. All the three players involved were given life bans from all forms of cricket. However, this life ban was lifted from Sreesanth in March 2019. 

In total he played 44 IPL matches, taking 40 wickets with his best performance being 3/29. His average and economy were quite descent as it stood at 29.85 and 8.14 respectively.