5 reasons why S Sreesanth deserves another chance

#3 Fit and raring to go

Still a fit athlete?

Even if the BCCI does indeed relent at some point, Sreesanth cannot afford to buy further time on crossing the biggest hurdle in front of him, his physical readiness for a return. Four years away from the rigours of the sport and a lack of access to training facilities can take its toll on a cricketer's fitness, more so for a fast bowler.

While there is the living example of Mohammad Amir’s smooth transition to international cricket after serving his time, it is not going to be as easy for Sreesanth, who is a decade older. At 34, Sreesanth needs to really prove his fitness to win back the confidence of the selectors and the team management.

To Sreesanth’s credit, it is heartening to see that despite years away from the game, he hasn’t lost his physique and still looks the part as a fast bowler. He attributes this to the disciplined fitness regime he had maintained even while he couldn’t play any cricket.

Denied access to training under the BCCI, he put in the hard yards of bowling in an indoor nets designed at his home, where he would bowl to several of the Kerala Ranji stars. Eternally optimistic of coming out clean, he had wanted to ensure that whenever the ban was lifted, he would be ready with immediate effect.

However, being in good physical shape and bowling long hours in the nets is one thing, match fitness is quite another. Having stated that playing Test cricket again is the biggest of his comeback goals, Sreesanth will need to attain a level of fitness that would be required to bowl long spells in Test match conditions. With this favourable verdict lifting his ban coming just ahead of the forthcoming domestic season, anything other than Sreesanth’s return to active cricket from the start of the season will be a case of unfair denial of opportunity.