Sreesanth: the lucky charm of Indian cricket

Shanthakumaran Sreesanth needs no introduction. The brash and exuberant cricketer is well known to the cricketing fraternity.

He made his debut in the late 2005 and has become one of the most the aggressive and talented pace bowlers India ever produced in the recent times. Known to cause a few problems, his aggressive attitude is what makes Sreesanth so unique. Marred by injuries throughout his career, stats show that there is an inseparable link between India being victorious and Sreesanth.

His first taste of success came when he got selected in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. Zaheer Khan having withdrawn from this tournament, Sreesanth was given the task of leading the Indian pace attack. Having bowled well throughout the tournament, he had a disastrous day in the final against Pakistan. It seemed like Misbah-ul-Haq would do it for Pakistan, but that was not to be. Misbah tried a cheeky shot and for a second everyone, including me didn’t this coming. Sreesanth took the catch and India became World Champions for the first time since 1983!

Sreesanth kept playing in the Indian limited overs team and Test team but was only successful in in the Test scene as his economy rate in ODI’s was a cause for concern. Add to that his on field controversies, he was in and out of the team quite often. He got his second break in 2008 when India went to Australia. This was the infamous Test series that was filled with controversies like the monkey-gate scandal. They went on to lose the series 2-1 and went on to play a tri-lateral series after – the Commonwealth Bank series.

Initially, Sreesanth was not part of the squad but joined in as a replacement. Luck would favour him again with India winning the Commonwealth Bank series beating Australia in the best of three. Sreesanth was again in the scheme of things picking wickets at regular intervals.This is the second instance where luck has favoured India particularly when Sreesanth was in the side.

The best moment I’ve witnessed as a fan was when India lifted the World Cup in 2011. Sreesanth, courtesy of his luck again made the 15 member team but didnt get a chance to play in any of the league matches. India struggled to find the right momentum until Dhoni introduced Ashwin but there was still no sign of Sreesanth. I for one thought that India was going to win without their ‘lucky charm’. He got a call-up in the final game but was expensive. With luck on his side India won the World Cup courtesy of two great innings from Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni, who came to his resuce.

The penultimate incident that showed how lucky he was when his luck brought an Indian win. India during the recent past has been on a losing spree, with the Test series loss to  England, the ODI loss to Pakistan and then losing the first ODI to England.

The next match  held at Kochi and the Kochi-ite wasn’t part of the team. He graced the galleries at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium along with his fellow Ranji players however. No one really gave India a chance to win, but believing in Sreesanth’s luck I believed India would win. Even though they had a disastrous start, they recovered and eventually India won.

The Next time BCCI selects a team for any major tournament, they should seriously consider the Kerala-born speedster, not just for his talent as a bowler but also for the lucky charm he can be for India.