Sreesanth comeback plans dashed as BCCI deny him NOC to play in Scotland League
Sreesanth, banned for life from cricket, was hoping to play in the Scottish League from April. But the BCCI has denied him the all-important No Objection Certificate.
Comeback plans of tainted India pacer S Sreesanth were dealt a huge blow when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) denied him an NOC to play in the Scotland Cricket League. According to an IANS report, the BCCI has refused to give Sreesanth the NOC because of the ban imposed on him for the spot-fixing scandal during the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2013.
“The BCCI has an internal mechanism and it was their disciplinary committee which slapped a life ban on Sreesanth after conducting its own probe in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match fixing case in which he was arrested in 2013,” the IANS report quoted a BCCI source as saying. “The BCCI is the final word when it comes to lifting of bans.”
One of the more talented swing bowlers in the recent past, Sreesanth was the second cricketer from Kerala after Tinu Yohannan to play for India. He had everything going for him as an international cricketer when he was arrested during the 2013 IPL along with Rajasthan Royals teammates Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan for allegedly conspiring with bookmakers.
The BCCI’s disciplinary committee later found him guilty of spot-fixing and banned him for life even though in 2015, a Delhi court had exonerated the three in the case registered by Delhi Police which had invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
Banned from using any BCCI infrastructure, Sreesanth was using private facilities to ready himself for another crack at cricket. During his time away from cricket, Sreesanth had also contested the Kerala Assembly elections in 2016 on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket but lost it.
His ultimate aim was to play cricket once more, for which Sreesanth had already signed the contract with Glenrothes for the Scottish League that starts in April. But BCCI’s decision to not give him an NOC can finally unplug his cricket career.
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