The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) has suspended former India speedster S Sreesanth for three years from all cricketing activities in the state for allegedly making false and derogatory statements against it over Sanju Samson’s omission from the Indian squad of the Champions Trophy.
The state cricket association also maintained that Srresanth’s subsequent reply to a KCA notice was derogatory and inappropriate. The decision was taken by the association at a general body meeting on April 30.
Sreesanth is currently a co-owner of Kollam Aeries, a franchise team in the Kerala Cricket League.
“Since the franchise teams gave satisfactory responses to the notices, no further action will be taken against them. However, the meeting decided to advise greater caution when appointing members to team management,” the statement said.
The General Body also resolved to file a compensation claim against Sanju Samson’s father, Samson Vishwanath, and two others for making baseless allegations using Sanju Samson’s name, it added.
The KCA had issued a show-cause notice to the 42-year-old —Sreesanth—who was part of the India squad that won two World Cup titles–for his remarks linking the state cricket body and Samson during a panel discussion on a Malayalam television channel.
In a statement, the KCA had clarified that the notice was not issued for supporting Samson but for making misleading and defamatory comments against the association.
During the TV discussion, Sreesanth had allegedly pledged his support to Samson and vowed to protect him and other Kerala players, while levelling accusations against the KCA.
His remarks came amid criticism of the KCA for dropping Samson from the Kerala squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which was believed to have affected his chances of being selected for India’s Champions Trophy team.
On being contacted by The Statesman, Sreesanth declined to comment on the suspension, saying that he wasn’t aware of the development.