A division bench of the Kerala High court on Tuesday upheld the appeal made by the Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) against the earlier single bench verdict that lifted the ban on former India pacer S Sreesanth in August this year.
Chief Justice Navniti Prasad Singh of the division bench ruled out that the court cannot carry out a judicial review of the life ban imposed by the apex cricketing body and upheld the appeal made by the board. The retrial was heard for the last two days before delivering its judgment.
The news came as a surprise for the Kerala born cricketer who was training hard for the last one week to get into competitive cricket for Kerala in the ongoing Ranji Trophy. Sreesanth will not be able to practice at any place that comes under the BCCI or any state association as per the norms.
Kerala Cricket Association (KCA), who was supporting Sreesanth ever since the ban was lifted, was planning to include the experienced cricketer to their squad. However, this verdict has ended all the hopes.
KCA secretary Jayesh George while talking to the media after the verdict said, “We had made arrangements for him to undergo a full fitness test so as to make him match fit. Now with this verdict, we will now have to respect it.”
Sreesanth expressed his dissatisfaction regarding the judgment in a series of tweets terming this decision as the ‘worst decision ever.’ He also questioned the high court regarding the punishment meted out to the real culprits and are there any special rules for him.
Despite all these, a confident Sreesanth admitted that he will keep on fighting for his right and thanked everybody for all the support and encouragement. According to the sources close to the bowler, Sreesanth is thinking of making an appeal against the verdict to the Supreme Court of India which is the only option left for him.