Ankeet Chavan hopeful of returning to playing competitive cricket like Sreesanth
Left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan has said that he is looking forward to making a comeback in competitive cricket and has requested the BCCI and MCA to allow him to do the same. Ankeet Chavan was banned from playing cricket after he was allegedly involved in spot-fixing with fellow Rajasthan Royals team-mates S Sreesanth and Ajit Chandila in the 2013 edition of the Indian Premier League.
"I have written to the BCCI and also my parent body MCA. My prayers to the BCCI and MCA are that I may also be allowed to play competitive cricket, just like Sreesanth has been," Ankeet Chavan told Mirror.
Sachin Baby describes Sreesanth as 'unplayable in the nets'
Sreesanth too was banned for life from playing cricket, but that sentence was changed to seven years in 2019. This meant that Sreesanth was available to play from September 2020 and thus, he was looking forward to making a strong comeback in the Kerala Ranji Trophy team.
Sreesanth had been practising with the Kerala U23 players as well as Ranji Trophy players like Sachin Baby, and the latter described Sreesanth as unplayable in the nets, meaning that the speedster had begun to get his rhythm back.
Sreesanth also had his eyes set on making a comeback to competitive cricket through the TNCA league system. Having played in Chennai early in his career, Sreesanth was well aware of the pitch and conditions at the stadium, and was confident of putting on a great show on his comeback.
Not only this, but Sreesanth also was confident that he would be in contention for playing the 2023 World Cup that was set to be played in India, although he would be 40 years old at that stage.
With Virat Kohli's team India putting particular emphasis on fitness in the team culture, Sreesanth also was focused on getting his body in the right shape by taking lessons from NBA trainer Tim Grover who has worked with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.