5 reasons why S Sreesanth deserves another chance

#2 An asset on upcoming away tours

Sreesanth was Player of the Match in India's historic Test win in Johannesburg in 2006

After the busy home season, the Indian team will be embarking on long tours away from home. Starting early next year, India has important tours to South Africa, England and Australia lined up in its calendar.

In the past year or so, India did have settled on a combination of fast bowlers who would do well in those conditions. The likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma will form the core of this strong bowling attack.

A couple of other young seamers have also been identified from their impressive performances on ‘A’ tours and in the IPL. However, it wouldn’t hurt if India can keep Sreesanth in the loop as well. The Kerala pacer, in his prime, was an asset on overseas tours with his ability to swing the ball both ways at pace and pick up the big fish in the opposition batting ranks.

Sreesanth’s wicket tally features the best batsmen of the current generation – Hashim Amla (7 times), AB De Villiers (6 times), Jacques Kallis (5 times), Kevin Pietersen (5 times), Graeme Smith (5 times) and Adam Gilchrist (5 times). Two of them, Amla and De Villiers, would be part of the South African side against India. Sreesanth’s best performances have been on South African soil too, picking 27 wickets at an average of 28.55 and strike rate of 47.55.