The life ban imposed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India on former Team India pacer S. Sreesanth will stay. A division bench of the Kerala High Court in Kochi on Tuesday said Sreesanth will have to stay away from all cricket activity conducted by the BCCI. (CRICKET NEWS)
S. Sreesanth was slapped a life ban by the BCCI in 2015 after the Kerala pacer was charged with corruption during the 2013 Indian Premier League. Sreesanth was charged with spot-fixing while playing for Rajasthan Royals.
In August this year, the Kerala High Court revoked the BCCI’s decision to impose a life ban on S. Sreesanth. Last year a special court in Delhi had acquitted him in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing case. The Delhi Police continues to pursue the matter.
Tuesday’s order will come as a big blow to the 34-year-old who was planning to play Ranji Trophy for Kerala.
S. Sreesanth has clearly expressed his unhappiness over the court order on his life ban. (Twitter)
The Kerala High Court division bench of Chief Justice Navniti Prasad Singh ruled that the court cannot conduct a judicial review on the life ban imposed by the BCCI and hence upheld the cricket Board’s appeal.
An angry S. Sreesanth called the court’s verdict “the worst decision ever.” He questioned the BCCI’s decision on allowing Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals back in the IPL fold after serving two-year suspensions each.
Great start to the day…🤗❤️🇮🇳✌🏻🏏you just got keep improving every single moment… pic.twitter.com/ALv1oUCD5T
— Sreesanth (@sreesanth36) October 11, 2017
Chennai Super Kings, owned by former BCCI chief N. Srinivasan and Rajasthan Royals, former IPL champions, will be back in IPL 2018. Both teams were banned by a Supreme Court panel for two years after their team owners were caught for betting on IPL matches.
Speaking to the media, Kerala Cricket Association secretary Jayesh George said the KCA was supporting S. Sreesanth ever since the ban was lifted.
“We had made arrangements for him to undergo a full fitness test so as to make him match fit. Now with this verdict, we will now have to respect it,” said George.
Now the only option before Sreesanth is to approach the Supreme Court and, according to sources close to the bowler, he is likely to go in appeal against this verdict.
S. Sreesanth’s angst could open a can of worms. The former speedster has urged the Supreme Court to reveal the names of all the 13 persons indicted by the Mukul Mudgal committee for corruption.
A similar plea has been made by the Cricket Association of Bihar, the original petitioners of the IPL 2013 scandal. A hearing has been scheduled for October 30.
(With inputs from IANS)
Source: HindustanTimes