Shanthakumaran Sreesanth has called time on his Indian domestic cricket career. Through a post on social media on Wednesday evening, the 39-year-old said he was making the decision in the interest of younger cricketers.
"For the next generation of cricketers..I have chosen to end my first class cricket career. This decision is mine alone, and although I know this will not bring me happiness, it is the right and honorable action to take at this time in my life. I ve cherished every moment .❤️🏏🇮🇳 ," he tweeted.
“It has been an honor to represent my family, my teammates and the people of India. Nd everyone who loves the game . With much sadness but without regret, I say this with a heavy heart: I am retiring from the Indian domestic (first class and all formats )cricket,” he said.
Sreesanth last made an international appearance for India in 2011, following which he was caught in the IPL spot-fixing scandal in 2013 which saw him being banned from the game by the BCCI. Upon the Supreme Court's directive, Sreesanth's ban was ended in 2020 but he never played for India again. The pacer had placed his name in the IPL auction list in 2021 and 2022 but was not picked by any franchise.
For India, Sreesanth played 27 Tests and 53 ODIs, taking 87 and 75 wickets respectively. He also picked seven wickets in the 10 T20 Internationals he played.
The 39-year-old made his Test debut against England in 2006 at Nagpur, while his ODI debut was against Sri Lanka, in 2005. His last international appearance was in 2011 in the Oval Test against England.
The right-arm pacer, who loves to celebrate a wicket, finished his career with 213 wickets in 74 first-class games while he picked up 124 wickets in 92 appearances in List-A cricket.
Sreesanth had a storied career, wherein apart from some fantastic and memorable performances, there was the spot-fixing scandal during the 2013 IPL season. Following a BCCI investigation, the then Rajasthan Royals' player was banned from the game for life but the verdict was overruled by the Supreme Court in 2019. In 2020, after sending seven years away from the game, Sreesanth's ban was revoked by BCCI Ombudsman DK Jain on 13 September.
Sreesanth spoke to The Quint after the revocation of his life ban and spoke about his plans for his comeback with the Kerala Ranji team. 'I want to win the Ranji Trophy with Kerala. Not next season, but this very season,' he had said even then insisting that he was not guilty of spot-fixing.
After his comeback to the big stage, Sreesanth played for Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2021. He also made his Ranji Trophy comeback where he played one game for Kerala, picking 2 wickets.
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