The career of S Sreesanth, who is one of the most promising pacers in the Indian cricketing spectrum, witnessed an abrupt break as his name came in the infamous India Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing saga. While the Kerala-born pacer has been cleared to start playing competitive cricket again, there were times when he literally went through hell.
Recalling his ‘torturous’ experience during the IPL spot-fixing scandal Sreesanth revealed that he was questioned for 16-17 hours every day in a terrorist ward by the authorities. The 37-year-old also claimed that he was being made the scapegoat of the entire controversy while there were some bigger names involved in the spot-fixing incident. In those tough times where Sreesanth was ‘tortured’ for the most part of the day for 12 consecutive days, it was his family that kept the fighting spirit inside him intact.
During an Instagram Live session with Crictracker, Sreesanth acknowledged the role played by his wife Bhuvneshwari Kumari during these tough times.
“She (my wife) always keeps me motivated. She always says not to stop at first-class cricket, but to play intl cricket when I make my comeback. She has been my biggest motivator. I am blessed to have her in my life. She saw my struggle in the past seven years,” the speedster said.
Further, Sreesanth also spoke about how he felt when he heard the news of the passing of Sushant Singh Rajput. The deceased actor was well-liked among the cricket fraternity for his portrayal of MS Dhoni in the former India skipper’s biopic, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story.
“I was training at that time, my wife messaged me, I didn’t check it at that time. Later, when I was in my car, I got a voice mail from my wife and I thought it was ‘mazak’.
“When I heard different voice mails, I got to know it was true, many were circulating his pictures on social media. Luckily, no one clicked me going to jail or coming out of jail. Luckily, my kids will not see such pictures. I felt sad on that day.”
Sreesanth donned the Indian jersey in 27 Tests, 53 ODIs and 10 T20Is, in which he claimed 87, 75 and 7 wickets respectively. He has even plied his trade for Kings XI Punjab, Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.
