After five years, Shalabh back with a bang
LUCKNOW: Where there’s a will, there’s a way — the saying goes true for Uttar Pradesh’s fast bowler Shalabh Srivastava – who, after ‘serving’ five years in isolation, is back with a bang launching his second stint in the game.
In 2012, BCCI had banned Shalabh for five years for conspiring to fix a match though no fixing eventually took place. As soon as the ban was lifted in June this year, Shalabh got an invitation from Australia’s famous Fulham Cricket Club to train their fast bowlers there.
“It’s a reward for my innocence that a club like Fulham called me to train their fast bowlers. It was a great experience to train youths for two months, especially the fast bowlers. The response was amazing,” Shalabh told HT on Friday on his return to home here.
Shalabh, however, admitted that he had announced his retirement from the all forms of the game and submitted it to the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association early this month.
“As soon as I got the official no objection certificate from the BCCI, I announced my resignation officially,” said Shalabh, adding, “I was invited in the Ranji Trophy trials, but I refused. Now, I am available for the UPCA, which can avail my services in any form for the betterment of the game.”
Shalabh, 36, a left-arm bowler from Allahabad, began his journey in domestic cricket in 19992000, and took 194 wickets, including 130 in first-class cricket in as many as 96 matches.
“I am innocent and have never been involved in any match-fixing,” said Shalabh, adding, “It was a mistake that I was friendly with people I didn’t know. The issue of match-fixing was never discussed with them,” he said. “It is now a thing of the past. I am looking forward to my second innings in the game. I will be joining the Fulham Club in Australia for a period of three months,” he said.
The Fulham Cricket Club has already announced the arrival of Shalabh for eight weeks of playing and bowling coaching at the club. Shalabh is a skilled leftarm bowler trained exclusively by Australia great Dennis Lillee in the MRF Pace Academy in Chennai.
“For the Fulham Club, I did one-on-one coaching too. For me it is for the first time, but altogether a different experience and very professional too,” said Shalabh, who is expecting a call from the state cricket association for coaching assignment of a team when the next season starts in September next.