Sreesanth questions BCCI's indifference towards him

"Every Indian has the right to know about the 13 names in the envelope with the Supreme Court. If the players who are accused are being protected, why are they not protecting me," Sreesanth asked.

The BCCI had suspended Sreesanth in 2013 over spot-fixing charges in the IPL but despite a Delhi court clearing him in 2015, the Indian cricket board continues to stick to its stand.

Fast bowler S. Sreesanth is still waiting for the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s response to his letter asking for an NOC (no objection certificate) to play in the Scotland Cricket League.

“I haven’t got a reply from the BCCI. Everybody is making a big fuss, saying that the BCCI has denied me the NOC. But I haven’t got a reply yet to my mail,” the two-time World Cup winner told The Hindu on Wednesday.

“I have been sending letters for the NOC for the last one-and-a-half months but I haven’t got a reply from the BCCI. They might have replied to the KCA but I haven’t got a reply to my mail yet.”

The BCCI had suspended him in 2013 over spot-fixing charges in the IPL but despite a Delhi court clearing him in 2015, the Indian cricket board continues to stick to its stand.

“The BCCI has still not given me a letter stating that I have been banned for life,” said Sreesanth. “Now things have changed in the BCCI (after the recent Supreme Court order based on the Lodha Committee report) so I’m waiting till the 29th of this month.”

The guilty still playing

Sreesanth felt that people who were guilty were playing international cricket while he was not allowed to earn his livelihood.

“People who are guilty are playing international cricket,” he said referring to the 13 names, including many cricketers who were accused of match-fixing and betting, which were lying in a sealed cover with the Supreme Court.

“Every Indian has the right to know about the 13 names in the envelope with the Supreme Court. If the players who are accused are being protected, why are they not protecting me,” he asked.

“I’m not fighting to know who the 13 are, seriously, because I really don’t want the things that happened to me to happen to them just because they are accused. But my question is, why two different laws for two different people.

“I just want a chance to earn my livelihood, I earn my bread and butter from cricket and I’ve got two kids. I’ve been waiting and waiting and now it’s almost four years, why don’t they understand.”