'He Hasn't Been...' - KCA Slams Sreesanth For Supporting Samson

The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) resorted to mud slinging after former India cricketer S Sreesanth showed support for Sanju Samson, after the latter was not selected in the Indian team for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, reportedly because he did not play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25. 

Sreesanth, on a TV show, questioned KCA as to why they did not select Samson, even as the latter is, by a long stretch, the best cricketer that the state has produced in many years. 

After that, KCA, which had now given a court summon to Sreesanth, who is a co-owner of Kollam Sailors in the Kerala Cricket League, also slammed the former cricketer, saying that the association stood with him even as he was banned for spot fixing. 

“When Sreesanth was in jail facing allegations in the infamous match-fixing scandal, KCA officials visited and supported him. Although the court quashed the criminal case, it is a fact that he has not been acquitted in the match-fixing case. In such a situation, there is no need for Sreesanth to take up the protection of other players,” a statement from KCA read. 

The KCA further enlisted all the help that Sreesanth got after his ban was lifted by the Supreme Court of India in 2019. Sreesanth couldn’t play any form of cricket between 2013 and 2019 due to that case, but was able to re-enter domestic cricket after KCA also lifted the ban and allowed him a smooth entry into the state side. 

“It was only because of KCA’s protective approach that Sreesanth was given opportunities in matches including the Ranji Trophy after completing his sentence. It is worth investigating whether other associations have taken such a favorable approach towards players involved in match-fixing,” the statement read. 

While KCA named Sajana Sajeevan, Minnu Mani and Joshitha VJ as some of the international cricketers KCA has produced apart from Samson, on Sreesanth’s criticism of the board for not producing international cricketers other than Sanju, the former pacer did not stop at slamming the association. 

“They (KCA) take players from other states to play for us. For what? Disrespectful to our Malayali cricketers,” he said in a chat with Onmanorama. 

“We have just one player at international level, Sanju. Let’s all support him. The so-called KCA has not produced an international cricketer since Sanju. We have great players like Sachin, Nidheesh, Vishnu Vinod, and many others, but are they (KCA) pushing them to play at a higher level?” questioned the cricketer who represented India in 27 Tests, 53 ODIs and 10 T20Is.