Veteran pacer S Sreesanth might well have played his final game for Kerala. The 39-year-old, who made a return to Ranji Trophy after a gap of nine years in Kerala's opening Elite Group A match against Meghalaya, tweeted a photo of him being on a hospital bed on Tuesday.
Sreesanth had earlier tweeted that he suffered an injury ahead of Kerala's second game against hosts Gujarat last week. Kerala went on to win the match by eight wickets and now meet Madhya Pradesh in their final group match at Rajkot tomorrow (Thursday).
In between Sreesanth had tweeted about a 'Very important announcement on 1st March 2022'.
It's interesting that neither the Kerala team management nor the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) has given any official statement regarding Sreesanth's injury. "Usually, the coach or the KCA observer will communicate to us if a player gets injured," a KCA official told Onmanorama on the condition of anonymity.
Sreesanth, who dismissed two tailenders against Meghalaya in the first innings, failed to pick up a single wicket while conceding 57 runs from nine overs in the second innings. Meghalaya No. 3 batter Chirag Khurana hit him out of the attack as his first spell read 6-0-47-0.
The other three Kerala pacers Manu Krishnan, Basil Thampi and debutant Edhen Apple Tom relished bowling on a green top at Rajkot as Meghalaya surrendered inside three days. The 17-year-old Edhen, who became the first Kerala bowler to pick up a wicket with his very first ball in a first-class match, was named man of the match for his match haul of 6/71.
M D Nidheesh, who replaced Sreesanth in the playing eleven against Gujarat, grabbed the chance with both hands as he was the pick of the Kerala bowlers in the first innings. Nidheesh registered his fourth five-wicket haul at the first-class level, while Basil wrecked Gujarat early on with a couple of crucial strikes in the second innings on the third afternoon.
Sreesanth as expected had gone unsold in the recent IPL auction. Sreesanth, who had a base price of Rs 50 lakh, found no takers, while Basil and statemate K M Asif were picked up by Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings for Rs 30 lakh and Rs 20 lakh, respectively.
