THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) has decided to suspend former international cricketer S Sreesanth for three years from all cricket-related activities in connection with his statement on the exclusion of Sanju Samson from the Champions Trophy squad.
Sreesanth is currently a co-owner of the Kollam Aries, a franchise team that plays in the Kerala Cricket League. The decision against the former Team India pacer was taken during the KCA’s special general body meeting held in Ernakulam on April 30, citing his “false and defamatory” remarks.
Sreesanth had criticized the KCA after Samson was omitted from the Indian squad for the Champions Trophy. The KCA had snubbed Samson and did not consider him for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which ultimately resulted in him being overlooked.
During a television discussion, Sreesanth had questioned whether any of the current crop of players have the KCA's backing to make it big at the national level. Following this, the KCA had issued show-cause notices to Sreesanth, franchise teams Kollam Aries, Alappey Ripples and Alappey team lead content creator Sai Krishnan.
The KCA statement said the explanations given by the franchisees were satisfactory and hence there was no need to take any further action against them. However, they will be told to maintain a vigil while drafting members to the management.
The KCA meeting also decided to initiate cases seeking compensation from Samson’s father Samson Viswanath and two others, including a media person, for allegedly raising baseless allegations against it in the matter.