After making his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in Nagpur on October 25, 2006, Sreesanth won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 and the coveted ODI World Cup in 2011 under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The 39-year-old played 27 Tests, 53 ODIs and 10 T20Is for India, taking 87, 75 and seven wickets respectively.
He was last seen in action during Kerala’s Ranji Trophy match against Meghalaya last month when he dismissed two batsmen in his innings and won by 166 runs.
Making his announcement in a series of tweets, Sreesanth said that he has chosen to end his 25-year career for the next generation of cricketers.
“It is my honor to represent my family, my teammates and the people of India. Involve everyone who loves the sport. With great sadness but without regret, I say this with a heavy heart: I am an Indian Retiring from domestic (first-class and all formats) cricket,” the Kerala-born pacer wrote.
“To the next generation of cricketers. I have chosen to end my first-class cricket career. This decision is mine alone, and although I know it will not bring me joy, it is the right and honorable action for me at this point in time.” . Life. I have cherished every moment,” he said.
“Today is a difficult day for me, but it is also a day of reflection and gratitude. ECC, Ernakulam District, Playing for various league and tournament teams, Kerala State Cricket Association, BCCI, Warwickshire County Cricket Team, Indian Airlines Cricket Team, BPCL and ICC.
Sreesanth also recalled the incredible moments of his career.
Sreesanth told PTI on Twitter, “My most memorable delivery was the one that dismissed Darren Ganga with a yorker during the tour of the West Indies in 2006. Inswing yorkers to sab dalte hai, yorkers were bowled by Wasim bhai and Waqar bhai. Then Jacques Kallis will be delivered.” Chat hosted by journalist Ravish Bisht.
When asked what his future plans are, the vagabond said: “Challa jata hoon kisike dhool mein, dhadane dil ke tarne liye.”
His Checkered International career may have lasted less than six years, but the fast bowler delivered good, bad and ugly moments that will be remembered forever.
Be it the bouncer coming in to dismiss South African great Kallis in the 2010 Durban Test or the great celebration of that great celebration after he hit Andre Nel for a six after a verbal exchange with the pacer during the 2006–07 South Africa tour. Afterwards, Sreesanth was full of life.
The right-arm pacer took the most memorable catch of his life when he dismissed Misbah-ul-Haq, when the batsman gave the Indians their only chance to win the T20 World Cup in Johannesburg in 2007.
But his career took a turn in 2013, when the fast bowler was handed a life ban for his alleged involvement in the IPL spot-fixing scandal.
He once said that he doesn’t want his kids to grow up and that their name ‘Google’ is something he denies to this day.
Sreesanth became a prisoner of his own device. His aggression, which at times seemed imposed and submerged in water, did not make him a friend.
The reason for slapping Harbhajan Singh back or going to jail for match-fixing was the suspicion that he must have done something wrong.
It took him seven years to clear his name and return to cricket only last year.
Sreesanth came into limelight during the Challenger Trophy in the early part of the last decade. He bowled a fast and furious spell in which he trapped the leg of the iconic Sachin Tendulkar first and came into limelight.
When Sreesanth hit the ball over the seam at 140 plus clicks, there was always a possibility of something happening.
This was an era when three fast bowlers Munaf Patel, RP Singh and Sreesanth himself took the field.
His inconsistency and fickle nature and mindless aggression became his perdition but in the middle was a glimmer of genius.
Sreesanth was crucial to India’s maiden Test victory in the Rainbow Nation.
It was the Johannesburg Test in December 2006, when Sreesanth had a dream 5/40 as India registered a 123-run victory by dismissing South Africa for 84 in the first Test.
But the delivery that the entire nation remembered was in Durban in 2010 where Kallis got entangled in his bouncer.
With 303 runs required to wrap up the series 2-0, the Proteas were cruising at 63 in 12 overs when Sreesanth dismissed skipper Graeme Smith after a brawl.
Sreesanth then had Hashim Amla but still the hosts were in good shape and the in-form pair of Kallis and AB de Villiers in the middle as they needed 192 runs on the fourth day.
He produced the ball of his life when he took it off quickly with an angle as the South African great failed to get him off the line and took a sideways, with his body shaped like a bow – an image in which a standing was effect.
The Kerala cricketer also made his trade with Punjab Kings, Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He made his IPL debut in 2008 against MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Sreesanth is a classic example of what he could have been in Indian cricket.
Most people will remember him for the wrong reasons but for a generation he will be immortalized in Ravi Shastri’s voice – “Sreesanth catches the catch, India won the World Cup”.
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