Former India cricketer Sreesanth has been suspended by the Kerala Cricket Association for making “false and derogatory” remarks about the state board. In particular, Sreesanth had pledged his support to Kerala-born batsman Sanju Samson after he was dropped from the team’s Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy squads earlier this year.

In an interview with Kerala-based outlet Omanorama, Sreesanth had blamed the KCA for not supporting Samson. He said, “We have just one player at 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?” Sreesanth said in an interview with Kerala media outlet Onmanorama.

Apart from Sreesanth, the KCA has also sought legal action against Sanju Samson‘s father, Samson Viswanath, for his comments against the association. Viswanath had publicly accused the KCA of undermining his son’t career earlier in the year. 

KCA bans Sreesanth for three years: 

KCA said that the decision to suspend Sreesanth for three years was taken at a special general body meeting in Kochi on 30 April. Sreesanth is currently the co-owner of the team Aries Kollam Sailors in the Kerala Cricket League. It also clarified that the suspension to Sreesanth was not issued for lending support to Samson but instead for his comments against the association.

In an official statement about the matter, KCA said, “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 Krishna, 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 new members,” the state cricket body added.