Sreesanth To Represent Another Country?

Kochi: Disgraced former cricketer S Sreesanth hinted that he might shift base and represent any other country since he does not see any chance of representing India.

He made the suggestion at the sidelines of a public event in Dubai in reference to a lifetime ban imposed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that was recently upheld by the Kerala High Court. Sreesanth was banned for life following allegations of spot-fixing during an Indian Premier League match in 2013. A single bench of the court had on September 18th ordered BCCI to lift the ban, finding that it cannot agree to the cricket board's stand that Sreesanth's exoneration by a Delhi court in 2015 doesn't matter. After considering an appeal filed by BCCI, a division bench of the High Court on Tuesday set aside the single bench's verdict.

Terming the BCCI as a "private firm", Sreesanth said he has the freedom to represent any country of his choice because BCCI has imposed the ban, not ICC. "If not India, I can play for any other country, because I am 34 now and I can only play for maximum six more years. As a person who loves cricket, I want to play cricket. And not only that, BCCI is a private firm; it is only us who say that this is the Indian team, but you know BCCI is a private body after all. So, if I play for any other country, it probably may be the same," Sreesanth said.