S Sreesanth will be making a comeback to the domestic circuit after being named in Kerala’s 20 man squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. The 2011 World Cup winner will be getting a chance at competitive cricket after being banned for seven years in spot-fixing in the IPL.
As the BCCI’s ban was coming to an end, Sreesanth (37) began training in June. Initially, Sreesanth was supposed to be competing in the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) President’s Cup T20 competition. The T20 tournament was supposed to take place in Alappuzha on December 17. However, the government did not give its consent for conducting the competition. On December 15, the KCA named Sreesanth in the list of probables for the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. It is a perfect opportunity for Sreesanth to revive his cricketing career. If Sreesanth has a good tournament, there is all likelihood that he could be picked up for the IPL as a mini-auction will be taking place sometime in February.
Meanwhile, Sanju Samson will be captaining the side while Sachin Baby will be the vice-captain. The squad includes Basil Thampi, Jalaj Saxena, Robin Uthappa, Vishnu Vinod, Salman Nizar, MD Nidheesh, KM Asif, Akshay Chandran, Abhishek Mohan, Vinoop S.Manoharan, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Rohan S Kunnummal and S Midhun. KCA has also added four new faces to the squad – Vathsal Govind Sharma, MP Sreeroop, PK Midhun and KG Rojith.
The tournament starts on January 10. Kerala will be playing in Elite Group E in the tournament, and all matches will be taking place in Mumbai. The group includes heavyweights such as Mumbai, Delhi, Andhra, Haryana and Puducherry. Kerala’s first game will be against Puducherry on January 11.
