S. Sreesanth - A casualty of the tussle between talent and temperament

Sreesanth and Symonds: A moment of disgrace

From bowling unplayable deliveries to losing his bearing – Sreesanth could do that in a matter of moments. It was always a very delicate state of balance with him and he lost it more often than not.

However, all his tantrums aside, getting mixed up in spot fixing wasn’t certainly something that anyone expected out of him. Acts of treason are well conspired and demands an envelope of secrecy. Being a loud character that he is, one would have thought, such acts would be beyond Sreesanth’s reach.

Did being out of favour with the team management add to the frustration and led to do what he is convicted of?

We will never know.

After the verdict, Sreesanth issued statements maintaining his innocence and stating that he was framed and his statements of confession was taken under duress. However, as soon as one goes back to the press conference held by Delhi Police back during the IPL, where the officer read out the transcript and backed it up with the video clips of the matches, Sreesanth’s “I am innocent” cry looked just as much fixed as those IPL games.

In terms of natural talent, Sreesanth is one of those rare few cricketers but his acts with the towel will wipe him off the memory of the millions of Indian cricket fans. It’s was a pity to see his gifted pair of wrists in hand cuffs – a pair that bowlers would die for.

However, even if he appeals for sympathy, the fans won’t respond to him because he made it difficult for them with his constant outbursts on and off the field. They were tolerant till a point – they laughed when he mocked at Andre Nel, they wowed at his courage when he sledged Andrew Symonds but when Rahul Dravid openly accuses someone of “cowardly acts”, you know he has stretched it a tad too far.

Is the life ban, too tough a sentence?

Maybe it is, but when talent turns poisonous and lashes out at the game itself, forgetting how reliant he is on the sport itself, it is time to take the hardest decisions. Endlessly indulging in a spoilt brat reinforces his acts and sets a wrong precedents to the others.

True, Sreesanth has been a difficult character to deal with and he has been a pain for everyone. He has pushed his boundaries and tested the patience of the opposition, his own captain, the umpires, the spectators and even now, his IPL saga is far from being over.

However, Sreesanth will be regarded as Indian cricket’s biggest loss over the last decade. There has never been a doubt about his talent but his temperament has often restricted him to attain the accolades that he deserved.

His entire life has been a fascinating tussle between talent and temperament but would it have been a different story if the guardians of Indian cricket have handled him a little differently?

He might go ahead and overturn his ban and become “an expert” on a television channel or might end up as a resident of the Big Boss house, but one question will always haunt the Indian cricket lovers – Did Sreesanth fail Indian cricket or did Indian cricket fail him?