The Kerala born pacer, S Sreesanth is eyeing a comeback in the domestic tournaments for his native state Kerala. The star pacer is seen training day in and out under the watchful eyes of Ramji Srinivasan for the last one week in Chennai.
The pacer, who was banned by the Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) after his alleged involvement in a spot-fixing scandal in 2013, was cleared by the Kerala High Court. However, BCCI challenged that decision of Kerala High Court and the hearing is scheduled in the next few days. A hopeful Sreesanth while talking to TOI said, “The hearing will take place in the coming days and I am optimistic about getting the decision in my favor. Once I receive the necessary clearance to play again, I would want to be in the best possible shape to bowl. Thanks to Ramji sir and his team at QLP (Quantum Leap Performance) for guiding me and also to SRMC (Sri Ramachandra Medical College) for offering me the facilities to train.”
Sreesanth while having a chat revealed that he is eyeing the fourth Ranji game of Kerala for his return. He also mentioned he would love to be a member of a Ranji Trophy-winning Kerala side. Kerala has won the first game of the season and is looking in good shape.
Sreesanth cited examples of tennis star Leander Paes and formula one star Narain Karthikeyan when asked about his hopes of wearing an India jersey after being out of cricket for so long. He said, “If Leander Paes can be playing in Grand Slams at 44 and Narain Karthikeyan race at 40 and be so successful at it, I see no reason why I can”t play at 34. They are my motivation as they have set targets and standards for people like us to achieve. If I make the Indian team, it will be a great comeback.”
The 34-year-old pacer keeps all the details about the current Indian pace bowling attack which is quite evident when he showers praises on them.
“I love watching Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav steam in. They both are sharp, possess good pace and swing the ball – making them lethal. The likes of Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have done well and so has Jasprit Bumrah in shorter formats. And how can I not mention Hardik Pandya who is a top-class all-rounder – bowling at 140kph and scoring runs as well,” he concluded.
