BCCI Responds To S Sreesanth's Threat Of Playing From Other Country

Hours after S Sreesanth threatened to “play from other country” following the Kerala High Court’s decision to reimpose the life ban on hi, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) dealt a body blow to his hopes of returning to the cricket field.

CK Khanna, BCCI’s acting president, made it clear that the World Cup-winning player would not be allowed to return to the field as per the International Cricket Council’s rules.

“Any player banned by his parent body cannot play for any other country, ICC rules very clear… Rules, regulations and the legal position is quite clear,” Khanna was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

Khanna’s comments came after Sreesanth , in an interview to Asianet News, had sensationally said that he can play for another country  and had gone on to call BCCI a ‘private firm’.

“BCCI has imposed the ban, not ICC. If not India, I can play for any other country, because am 34 now and I can only play for maximum six more years. As a person who loves cricket, I want to play cricket. And not only that, 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,”  he had said.

“So, if I play for any other country, it probably may be the same. 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,” he had added.

Earlier this week, the division bench of the court, on Tuesday (October 17), gave its verdict in favour of the BCCI after the board filed a petition against the decision by a single bench of the Kerala High Court which ordered the board to revoke the ban in August.

Sreesanth, who along with Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan was handed life ban by the BCCI’s disciplinary committee in September 2013, was cleared of all charges by a Delhi trial court in 2015 due to insufficient evidence under the MCOCA act, a special law passed by the Maharashtra state government to tackle organised crime syndicates and terrorism.

However, the BCCI board remained firm with its decision since it was independent to any criminal proceeding and was based on its independent disciplinary action. But in August this year, Justice A Muhamed Mustaque of the Kerala High Court told the BCCI it had no incriminating evidence against the player and hence ordered the board to lift the life ban. But the board once again challenged the verdict and got the verdict in its favour.