Veteran Pacer S Sreesanth made a blistering return to the competitive cricket after seven years on Monday. The speedster bagged a solitary wicket for Kerala against Puducherry in an Elite E match of the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Mumbai.
Sreesanth, who was named in the 26-man probables for Kerala last month, picked his first wicket after bowling a late outswinger to clip the top of off stump. He finished with the figures of one wicket for 29 runs in four overs at an economy rate of 7.25 as Kerala beat Puducherry by six wickets.
"Thanks a lot for all the support and love ..it's just the beginning..with all of ur wishes and prayers many many many more to go..lots of respect to u nd family .. #blessed #humbled #BCCI #india #nevergiveup," Sreesanth tweeted.
"God is great. My faith in god has given me this opportunity to comeback for the Kerala team. I am physically fitter than I was in 2011 when we won the World Cup. I am expecting to perform well and the team has both experienced hands like Robin Uthappa, Jalaj Saxena, Sachin Baby, captain Sanju Samson, as well as young players like KM Asif," Sree Santh told IANS over telephone from Mumbai.
Sony Cheruvathur, a former Kerala Ranji Trophy captain and a compatriot of Sree Santh, said he is a gifted bowler.
"I know Sree Santh and his attitude. He is raring to go and he has always been an aggressive person in the field and this nature will take him a long way. He is a gifted fast bowler and I am expecting him to perform exceedingly well. He is a happy go lucky guy," Cheruvathur told IANS.
Now 37, Sreesanth was handed a life ban by the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) for indulging in alleged spot-fixing during the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Ombudsman reduced his ban to seven years which ended in September last year. Ever since his ban got over, Sreesanth has vowed to make comeback into the Indian side.
Sreesanth has played 27 tests, 53 ODIs and 10 T20Is for India. He was also part of the team that won the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 50-over World Cup in 2011.
(With inputs from IANS)
