S Sreesanth: The Stray Bowler

The arrest of the temperamental former Indian seam bowler S Sreesanth two years ago, along with two other IPL cricketers, opened a sort of Pandora’s box which led not just to several matches getting investigated, but the owners of two top IPL teams—one of whom was related to the then Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief —being found guilty of betting and dealing with bookies. When the BCCI tried to shield the two, the matter eventually escalated to the Supreme Court, which suspended the guilty teams for two years. But now almost two years after Sreesanth and two other IPL players were first picked up, quite a remarkable development has taken place. The former seam bowler and the other two accused have been declared ‘not guilty’ by a Delhi court. According to the court, there is insufficient evidence to prosecute the three cricketers.

It could be that the Delhi Police botched the investigation. Or that Sreesanth was actually innocent. The bowler had confessed to his involvement back then, but has since claimed that he signed confessional statements under duress. While Sreesanth was quick to capitalise on the verdict, telling reporters how he will try to make up for lost time as soon as possible, it is still unlikely that he is going to be back on a cricket field anytime soon. The BCCI, which had handed Sreesanth a life-long ban from playing cricket, says it will not revoke it. According to the Board, its independent investigation found the bowler guilty. The Delhi Police, which framed the initial case, is also set to challenge the Delhi court’s decision in a higher court.

Sreesanth has long been accused of being a temperamental individual quite unprepared to handle the success that came his way. Starting his cricket career with a relatively weak domestic team in Kerala, Sreesanth had risen rapidly through the ranks and eventually received the coveted call to join India’s national team. He had an excellent out-swinger, and had great performances in the West Indies and later against South Africa, where his eight wickets in Johannesburg delivered India its first Test win on South African soil. But the highlights of his career came when he was part of the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 World Cup.

Despite his success, he was never really a permanent fixture on the team. He was dropped several times from various games for indifferent form and injuries. And on the occasions that he was on the field, he was forever being warned for breaches of discipline. When he wasn’t gesturing animatedly after dismissing batsmen in the opposition team, he was busy bowling beamers and deliberately bumping into other players over the course of the game. In 2008, he was famously slapped by his teammate Harbhajan Singh during an IPL match.

At the time of his arrest, he had just recuperated from a toe injury that left him in a wheelchair. During this period, Sreesanth, it is said, was desperate for a call from the national team, something that never happened.

In the two years that he has been away from cricket, Sreesanth hasn’t really been in the wilderness. He participated in a popular dancing reality TV show, is apparently part of two films, one made by Bollywood and another in Malayalam, and he was often in newspaper photographs visiting temples as his case progressed. During this period, he also got married and had a daughter. After the Delhi court ruling, Sreesanth told Cricinfo, a cricket portal: “I want to play cricket. I know I have been in the news for movies and all that, but everybody knows that I am a cricketer first. I was just waiting. I was just making sure I don’t get bogged down in life. I want to play cricket.” Probably not anytime soon.

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