 "S Sreesanth has been suspended from all cricketing activities by the Kerala Cricket Association. Images: Sreesanth on X/Reuters")
The Kerala Cricket Association has taken strict action against former Indian pacer S Sreesanth following the controversy surrounding Sanju Samson’s exclusion from the Indian cricket team for the Champions Trophy 2025 earlier this year. The KCA has also announced that it will take legal action against Sanju’s father, Samson Viswanath, for making “baseless allegations" against the association.
Both Sreesanth and Samson’s father, Viswanath, had made allegations against KCA in the media after the batter was not picked in the Indian squad after missing out on the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The KCA had clarified in the past that Samson missed the domestic tournament as he was not part of a preparatory camp and players were selected through that only.
Sreesanth suspended for three years by Kerala Association
KCA on Friday announced that Sreesanth has been suspended from all cricketing activities with the board for three years. This will also impact Sreesanth’s co-owned Aries Kollam Sailors franchise, which is part of the Kerala Cricket League.
The decision to suspend Sreesanth was taken at the KCA general body meeting in Ernakulam on Friday.
“Following the controversial remarks, the KCA had issued show-cause notices to Sreesanth and the franchisee teams Kollam Aries, Alleppey Team Lead content creator Sai Krishnan, and Alleppey Ripples. As the franchisee teams gave satisfactory replies to the notice, the meeting decided not to proceed with further action against them. However, the KCA instructed the team management to be vigilant when including members,” the KCA statement read.
The KCA also shared that it will seek compensation through legal action from Samson’s father, Viswanath, Reji Lukose and a TwentyFour news channel anchor for allegations levied against the state board.
What is the Sreesanth vs KCA fight?
After Sreesanth lambasted KCA for Samson’s exclusion from the Indian squad, the 42-year-old former cricketer was issued a show-cause notice by the association in February for “false and defamatory” statements.
Sreesanth, however, did not hold back and launched another attack on KC in another interview. He questioned why they are ignoring local players for exports from other states.
“They (KCA) take players from other states to play for us. For what? It’s disrespectful to our Malayali cricketers,” Sreesanth told Onmanorama.
“We have just one player at the 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 higher levels?”