Sreesanth's ban gets reduced to 7 years; what's next for the Indian pacer?

Indian cricketer Sreesanth's life ban was reduced to seven years by the BCCI Ombudsman DK Jain on August 20. The ban will get over on September 13, 2020. It was imposed on the 36-year-old cricketer for his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal. The supreme court had asked BCCI to reconsider this earlier this year. 

The former Rajasthan Royals player is quite ecstatic with the life ban being lifted and has some ambitious plans for the future.

The 36-year-old cricketer already has his plans set for the coming days. He mentioned that when the ban period gets over, he will be 37 years old and his aim is to finish with 100 wickets in Test cricket for the Indian team. The cricketer, who has acted in Aksar 2, is confident about his return to the Indian team and is looking forward to playing under the leadership of Virat Kohli.

"I am extremely delighted with what I have heard now. Thanks to each one of my well-wishers who prayed for me and the prayers have been answered. I am 36 now and next year I will be 37. I have 87 Test wickets and my aim is I want to finish my career with 100 Test wickets. I am confident that I can return to the Indian Test team and always wanted to play under Virat Kohli," Sreesanth told the media.

The Ombudsman stated in his order that in the report of the Commissioner there is no allegation that the cricketer did not co-operate in the inquiry and also BCCI could not controvert Sreesanth's plea that the offences he allegedly committed did not substantially damage the commercial value of IPL.

"In the report of the Commissioner there is no allegation that Sreesanth did not co-operate in the Inquiry. Additionally, the BCCI has not been able to controvert the specific plea of Sreesanth that the offences allegedly committed by him did not substantially damage the commercial value of the IPL matches, or even the final result of the subject match," DK Jain said.

Moreover, Jain further added that the BCCI has nothing on record to prove that the cricketer's behaviour on and off the field was erratic with his fellow players.

"Although the BCCI has referred to his erratic behaviour, both on and off the field, with fellow players, but nothing has been brought on record by the BCCI to show that any sanction was imposed on him in the past. On the contrary, he was regularly participating in the national and international matches," Jain further added.

The pacer, who played his last Test match in 2011, has played 27 Tests and 53 ODIs, picking up 87 and 75 wickets respectively. He along with Rajasthan Royals teammates Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were banned by the BCCI on the charges of spot-fixing.