Banned Indian pacer S Sreesanth has said that he is contemplating playing for a different country. This after a two-judge bench of the Kerala High Court recently reinstated the life ban on him for a spot-fixing incident during 2013 IPL.
“I have been banned by the BCCI but not by the ICC (International Cricket Council). If not for India, I would like to play for another country as I am 34 years old now and I can go on only for another six years. For someone who loves cricket, I just want to play,” Asianet quoted Sreesanth.
He added, “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.”
However, Sreesanth who was part of the 2011 World Cup winning team expressed his disappointment over losing his chance to represent Kerala in the Ranji Trophy.
"Yes, representing Kerala in Ranji Trophy is different. I had hoped to win Ranji Trophy, Irani for Kerala, but the decision rests upon the BCCI,”
The speedster was previously cleared by a single-judge bench of the Kerala HC from the spot fixing charges.
Recently on Twitter, Sreesanth has also alleged that there was a larger conspiracy against him while the 13 names involved in spot-fixing and mentioned in the Lodha committee report was still not made public.
It was in September 2013 that the BCCI awarded him a lifetime ban for bringing the game into disrepute. A Delhi court had, however, acquitted him in the case in 2015.