Shanthakumaran Sreesanth is an Indian cricketer. He is a right handed tail-ender batsman and a right-arm fast medium pace bowler. Sreesanth is well known round the world for his aggressive nature. He is a player of passion and is noted for especially celebrating his wickets in a very emotional way. Due to this demeanor he violates the International Cricket Council player conduct guidelines and is often fined.Presently, he will be seen playing at the IPL 5 season 2012 for the team of Rajasthan Royals.
In the 2002-03 domestic season Sreesanth made his first class debut with Goa as the opponent. In the Ranji Trophy in seven matches he took 22 wickets.
In 2005, he displayed a strong performance in the domestic limited overs Challengers Trophy tournament. He was successful in taking 7 wickets and had the third best average in the tournament. This led to the selection of Sreesanth for the Indian national squad to play his first ODI against Sri Lanka.
| Role | Bowler |
| Born | 6 Feb 1983 |
| Nationality |
India
|
| Nickname | Sree, Gopu |
| Official Site | www.sreesanth.in |
| Team History | |
Kerala
|
2002 - 2013 |
Rajasthan Royals
|
2008 - 2013 |
Kochi Tuskers Kerala
|
2011 |
India
|
2005 - 2011 |
Kings XI
|
2008 - 2010 |
Warwickshire County
|
2009 |
In his first match held in Nagpur he was able to take 2 wickets but was punished badly by Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya.There he showed much promise in his bowling with vigor and speed but he was dropped for the next 2 games. Although his debut performance was not that great he was selected in the upcoming One day matches for India.
Sreesanth made his first test debut on March 1st 2006 against England. He replaced Zaheer Khan in the team as Zaheer was out with injury. He claimed 4 wickets for 95 runs in his first match.
In Test cricket the most vital play from Sreesanth was during the Indian tour of South Africa in the first test at Johannesburg. Although India lost by 4-0 in the limited overs series South Africa was dismissed due to the display of pace and swing by Sreesanth whose statistics were 5 for 40. Sreesanth’s performance helped India to dismiss South Africa at a score of just 84 runs. However at the end of the match Sreesanth was fined as he broke the ICC’s advertising logo policy. Also while batting against the fast bowler André Nel, he responded to a taunt by Nel by hitting a delivery for a six and then followed Nel to perform a dance.
In the Indian Premier League, when the Kings XI Punjab team was victorious over the Mumbai Indians at Mohali on 25 April 2008 Harbhajan Singh slapped Sreesanth under the eye due to which Sreesanth had to shed tears inconsolably prior to the presentation ceremony. Sreesanth declared that Harbhajan was just like his elder brother and he had nothing to complain. However, the BCCI launched a probe regarding this incident and took the decision to ban Harbhajan for the remainder 11 matches of the Twenty20.
Sreesanth’s ability with the ball keeps him in contention for a spot in the Indian National Squad. He was called in as a replacement for the World Cup team 2011 as Praveen kumar had to be out because of an injury. Sreesanth shared the pace attack for Kochi in IPL 2011 season. At present, he has been selected by the Rajasthan Royals to play for IPL 5 season 2012.
Career Highlights
Sreesanth entered the record books when he took a hat-trick against Himachal Pradesh in a Ranji trophy game, the first time it was achieved by a Kerala bowler. He even achieved 4 wickets for 58 runs against Pakistan in Karachi.
