S Sreesanth played his first first-class game in 9 years on Thursday as he turned up for Kerala in their opening Ranji Trophy 2022 encounter against Meghalaya at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium C in Rajkot.
Sreesanth, who was banned for life in 2013 due to alleged involvement in IPL spot-fixing and then the sentence was reduced to 7 years, made his white-ball domestic comeback last year in the Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare tournaments for Kerala. Now, the Ranji Trophy this year, after it was cancelled last season due to the pandemic, marks his return in red-ball cricket.
On a warm morning in Rajkot, Kerala skipper Sachin Baby opted to bowl. Sreesanth started off the proceedings taking the new ball. He went wicketless in his first spell but then returned to bag two wickets – that of tailenders Aryan Bora and Chengkam Sangma to clean up Meghalaya’s batting quickly at the end. In 11.2 overs, the speedster bowled 2 maidens, conceded 40 runs, and snapped up a couple of scalps.
Debutant Eden Apple Tom was Kerala’s best bowler on the day, bagging a four-wicket haul, and left-arm pacer Manu Krishan picked three as Meghalaya were bundled for 148. In reply, Kerala openers, Ponnam Rahul and Rohan Kunnummal, took their side home unscathed for 59 runs by the end of Day 1 in Rajkot.
Despite being aged 39, Sreesanth continues to hope to play for India again. However, that took a hit when he wasn’t picked up by any of the 10 IPL franchises in the recent IPL 2022 mega-auction, in which he had set his base price at 50 lakh.
Sreesanth had 40 wickets in 44 IPL matches before he was banned in 2013. He was, though, already out of the national side; His last ODI game for India was in 2011 – the World Cup final against Sri Lanka – and last Test on the 2011 England tour. He has 87 Test wickets and 75 ODI wickets to his name; he hopes to add to this tally, but chances look close to nil of his return.
Here, check out the reactions of fans on Sreesanth’s comeback:
Sreesanth got a First Class wicket after 8 yrs ..Infact picked wickets in back to back deliveries to get rid of Meghalaya tail..His former KXIP teammate Pankaj Dharmani is also part of the match, but as Match referee.#ranjitrophy2022
— Amal Sudhakaran (@amal_sachinism) February 17, 2022
Sreesanth took his first wicket in first-class cricket after 9 long years.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 17, 2022
Sreesanth returns after 9 years.
The last time Sreesanth played first-class cricket was the same match when Sachin Tendulkar scored his last first-class hundred – Mumbai v Rest of India in 2013 Irani Cup.#RanjiTrophy— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) February 17, 2022
Sreesanth has picked a wicket in first-class cricket.
Oh, nine long years.
— Bharath Ramaraj (@Fancricket12) February 17, 2022
Sreesanth bags two wickets on his Ranji Trophy comeback. Meghalaya’s Aryan Bora and Chengkam Sangma. #RanjiTrophy
— Subhayan Chakraborty (@CricSubhayan) February 17, 2022
Welcome back Sreesanth to the Indian Domestic Cricket Scene. He got his this first wicket after 9 years. Happy for him. Hope he goes on to achieve more in this Ranji Trophy match & whole tournament! Go well @sreesanth36 ??#RanjiTrophy #SSreesanth #Sreesanth #KERvMEG #Kerala pic.twitter.com/gvNSIQvqsQ
— Manoj PAL (@palmanoj1345) February 17, 2022
Two wickets for Sreesanth on return to first class cricket after 9 years
— Prashanth S (@ps_it_is) February 17, 2022
If you see all my posts, I have zero sympathy for Azhar, Jadeja, Sreesanth, Prabhakar and the list goes on.
I just mentioned generically that Mudgal envelope must be opened without naming anyone. But some fans decided to get triggered! ?? https://t.co/rKlsvLd51y
— Cricketjeevi (@wildcardgyan) February 17, 2022
