S Sreesanth
S Sreesanth (Credits: PTI)

Out-of-favour India fast-bowler S Sreesanth kept a good distance from the blame games despite being initially banned for life for his alleged involvement in 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal. Sreesanth along with two other former Rajasthan Royal players Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan was accused of fixing.

BCCI conducted its own investigation and banned the pacer for life. But last month, his ban was cut short to seven months. BCCI ombudsman DK Jain ordered for S Sreesanth’s spot-fixing ban to be reduced to a seven-year suspension. Thus Sreesanth will be eligible to play from September 2020.

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And probably for the first time since the ban was imposed on him, S Sreesanth has publicly spoken on his hatred for IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings. Earlier this year, Rajasthan Royals coach Paddy Upton had revealed in his autobiography that the bowler abused him when he was not allowed to play in an IPL fixture against Chennai Super Kings.

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S Sreesanth
S Sreesanth (Credits: Web)

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The right-arm pacer has now lifted the lid on his behaviour. In an interview with Indian Express,  S Sreesanth said that he desperately wanted to play the match because of his dislike towards Chennai Super Kings.

“Mr Upton, touch your heart and touch your kid’s heads, did I ever abuse you either during India team or in IPL? I want to ask the legend Rahul Dravid, someone whom I respect and love, when did I ever fight with him? When did I abuse with him the way Upton said in his book?” he said.

“I requested Upton many times to let me play that game — only because of my history with CSK and because I wanted to defeat them. He made it out differently that I wanted to play as if for fixing. Everybody knows how much I hate CSK, I don’t have to say. People might say because of MS Dhoni or N Srinivasan sir or whatever but that’s not the truth; I just hate the yellow colour. I hated Australia for the same reason. Most importantly, I have done extremely well against CSK that’s why I wanted to play,” S Sreesanth added.

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Upton had sensationally claimed that he and Rahul Dravid were abused by S Sreesanth in the dressing room. The former mental conditioning coach of India said that 24 hours before the Rajasthan Royals trio was  arrested on May 16, 2013, Sreesanth had been ‘sacked and send home for poor behaviour’. Speaking about that, the Kerala pacer said that the allegations were disappointing.

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“That allegation that I abused the two was the most disappointing. That was bigger than torture by police. That thing still hurts. Other players would talk about Upton, “Yeh kaun hai bey, Kirsten sab kuch karte hain (who is this guy, Kirsten does everything).’ Have I ever behaved like that with him? I really hope your book sells more because you seem so desperate,” he said.