S Sreesanth to make return in President’s T20 Cup in Kerala
S Sreesanth, who two months ago served out his seven-year ban for his alleged involvement in the IPL 2013 spot-fixing scandal, is set to mark his return in the President’s T20 Cup in his home state of Kerala. Sreesanth’s last professional game came 7.5 years ago in IPL 2013 against KXIP.
Many deemed S Sreesanth’s cricketing career to be over post his conviction in the IPL 2013 spot-fixing gate, which saw him be banned for seven years (reduced from a life ban), but despite nearing the age of 38, the speedster, recently, made his intentions of a comeback clear. Sreesanth revealed that he is vying to play in both first-class cricket and the IPL and claimed that he will do everything in his power to give himself the best shot of making a return to the big stage.
Now in what could prove pivotal to Sreesanth’s professional comeback, the 37-year-old is all set to play in the President’s T20 Cup hosted by the Kerala Cricket Association. Speaking to Sportstar, Sajan K. Varghese, president of Kerala Cricket Association, confirmed the news and added that the KCA are aiming to hold the competition in December.
“Yes, definitely. Sreesanth will be an attraction. Every player will be in a bio-bubble in one hotel in Alappuzha. We are looking at the first week of December. The clearance from the Kerala government is the main thing,” Sajan K. Varghese, president, Kerala Cricket Association told Sportstar.
Sajan also revealed that the KCA have roped in Dream 11 as the official sponsors for the tournament and added that all teams will be Kerala-based, with the tournament set to oversee a league format.
“With the support of Dream11, it is a league format that we have planned. All the teams, from different age-groups, are from Kerala,” he said.
State associations hosting T20 Leagues in secure bio-bubbles isn’t something new as while the Jharkhand Cricket Association successfully hosted an intra-state T20 league, the Cricket Association of Bengal’s T20 Challenge will kick-off from November 24.