‘A chance I had been waiting for’

At nets, two days before this Test, S Sreesanth was working up pace and movement — hot enough for Rahul Dravid to handle. On the big stage, however, he didn’t look as threatening, but still did the damage, reports Khurram Habib.

At nets, two days before this Test, S Sreesanth was working up pace and movement — hot enough for Rahul Dravid to handle. On the big stage, however, he didn’t look as threatening, but still did the damage. He rocked the Lankan top-order with innocuous deliveries, and then slowly found the ones that had Dravid clueless.

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Exactly one-and-a-half years ago, he had played his last Test here and it was fitting that he came back with a bang in front of a packed house. “I worked hard on this track. I tried to make them play as much as possible,” he said. While the rest flowed with the tide, Sreesanth was bending his back even after the major work had been done.

“It is an opportunity I had been waiting for. I never thought I’d be playing for the country again. Hopefully, it is just the beginning.” No wonder, he had the ball in hand even before the toss. “Unlike in the past, I (now) set goals which I can achieve. God has been kind.”

Indeed, providence intervened.

People were surprised when he was picked. He bowled well in the Irani Cup but flopped in the Challenger Series. Even in Ranji Trophy, Madhya Pradesh batsmen had the better of him. He was up against Munaf Patel — who had impressed in these events — in a competition between two men having disciplinary issues.

Sreesanth prevailed, perhaps due to a more agile look and a stint with Warwickshire. And the rest is history. Courtesy Allan Donald, he says, he’s sobered down. “Donald sir helped me with my off-field work ethics.” You could see that in the restrained manner in which he celebrated his wickets. “But I did celebrate,” he countered.

On Thursday, at the Green Park, it was Sreesanth who made the crowd roar every time he galloped to the wicket. With fists pumping and the customary folding of hands, Sreesanth’s every move was worth watching, including the one when he united with Harbhajan, who had slapped him during IPL 2008.

“Harbhajan is like my elder brother. He and Viru (Sehwag) kept me charged up.”