Former Indian pacer S Sreesanth on Monday played his first competitive cricket in seven years, returning in style in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021. He was part of Kerala's game against Puducherry in Mumbai and celebrated his return with a wicket of batsman Fabid Ahmed, whom he had dismissed seven years back in his first T20 hat-trick.
He conceded nine runs in his first over after Kerala were put to bowl first, but returned for his second to remove the opener by getting the ball to swing away from the batsman, hence clicking the bails on the top of off stump. He eventually finished with 1 for 29.
He later shared the video of his wicket on Twitter with the caption, "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...of respect to u nd family .. #blessed #humbled #cricket #bcci #kerala #love #team #family #india #nevergiveup"
Kerala had won the match by six wickets, chasing down the target of 137 with 10 balls to spare.
The Board of Contol for Cricket in India (BCCI) had imposed a ban on Sreesanth along with his Rajasthan Royals teammates Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan in 2013 for their alleged involvement in the IPL spot-fixing scandal.
The lifelong ban was however reduced to seven years in 2019 and then in December he was added to the Kerala squad for the pre-season campaign.
