S Sreesanth Reveals Why He Tucked Towel In His Trousers While Bowling In IPL 2013

S Sreesanth would have never thought that his love for South Africa’s bowling great Allan Donald would change his life forever. One of the most animated characters one can ever see on a cricket field, Sreesanth was seen sporting an arm band and zinc oxide on his face several times as he loved to follow Donald but little did he know that following those pre-match rituals on the fateful day of 5 May 2013 would ruin his career.

Sreesanth was accused of match-fixing and sporting an armband and tucking a towel in his trousers were put up as evidences against him. Consequently, he was banned for life by the BCCI’s disciplinary committee in September 2013 but lack of evidences against him saw him getting cleared of all charges by a Delhi trial court in 2015. However, the BCCI has not lifted the ban since their decision was independent to any criminal proceeding and was based on its independent disciplinary action.

The Kerala High Court recently ordered the BCCI to lift the life ban on bowler but the board is now all set to appeal against the verdict. But the 34-year old has once again reiterated that he is innocent and revealed the reason why he tucked the towel in his trousers during that match.

“They said Jiju (Janardhan) apparently said I would either keep an arm band or towel or vermilion or something like that. I used to do all that because I love Allan Donald,” he told Wisden India.

“I have done that before too. I would even wear plenty of zinc oxide on my face, like Donald. Does that mean those matches were fixed too? Is it a crime to be superstitious? I believed that wearing those things would help me when I was going through a bad phase in my bowling. In fact, in the first over I asked Kumar Dharmasena (the umpire) if it was okay if I kept a towel. Surely, the stump microphones picked that up. I did that only because it made me feel like Donald,” he added.

“Why would someone fix for Rs10 lakh? If you’re accusing me, say Rs10 crore or something. Why would I jeopardise my career, my life for Rs10 lakh?,” he further said,