‘ True to cricket, hope to play again’
KOCHI: Given a chance to start life afresh, there is little cricketer S Sreesanth would change.
“I’d like to be reborn as Sreesanth and live the same life. I have been true to myself and the game,” he says in his first interview after his world of fame and money crashed on May 16 when the Delhi Police arrested him for spot-fixing. He was released after 27 days in custody. Speaking from a hospital bed, where he is recovering from a bout of viral fever, he adds: “Perhaps I will be more careful when I choose friends.” The police charges against him are based on a conversation that, they claim, took place between a friend of Sreesanth’s and a bookie.
He says it is for the courts and the BCCI to take a view of his innocence but questions the suggestion that he bowled an over on bookies’ directions. “People who know cricket can tell it was a typical Sreesanth over — four good balls and two boundaries,” he says.
“For God’s sake, it was Gilchrist (to whom I was bowling),” he adds. “If I wanted to give away 14 runs, wouldn’t I have given him a free hit?” Incidentally, the over conceded only 13 runs though, as per the police version, Sreesanth’s friend had assured the bookies of 14 runs. Delhi Police’s allegations largely hinge on the money he had been splurging in the days just before his arrest.
The police also leaked information that he had gifted a BlackBerry phone to a girl in Jaipur and bought himself
two pairs of jeans worth nearly R2 lakh.
But Sreesanth says, “All the money I spent is hard earned and accounted for. Buying gifts for friends makes me happy. I do it for both boys and girls.” He adds that his accountant may have a long list of gifts he has bought in the past eight years. “I earn and I spend lavishly.”
Sreesanth, however, isn’t bitter towards the police. “They did what they did. Perhaps, had I been in their position, I may have done the same thing. But I have full faith in the judiciary and the BCCI. I have to be strong and patient to accept whatever they conclude,” he says, hoping, “If things go well, I will get a second chance. And I will play cricket again.”