Kerala pacer S Sreesanth turned emotional after picking up a wicket on his return to competitive cricket on Monday. The 37-year-old was returning after serving a seven-year suspension for his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scam.
Sreesanth struggled with his line in his opening over in Kerala's Elite Group E match against Pondicherry in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 Championship at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The right-arm pacer leaked nine runs in his first over.
However, Sreesanth made amends in his second over as he cleaned up Pondicherry opener Fabid Ahmed with a superb delivery. A delighted Sreesanth was mobbed by his teammates and the pacer turned emotional.
Sreesanth went for 10 runs in his third as Kerala captain Sanju Samson bowled him inside the powerplay overs. His first spell read 3-0-25-1.
Sreesanth ended up with figures of 1/29 from his quota of four overs.
Though there was a cosiderable dip in his speed, the two-time World Cup winner was the most economical Kerala pacer. Basil Thampi (0/32) and K M Asif (1/37) conceded a few as Pondicherry finished on 138/6. Kerala went on to win the match by six wickets.