The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) has suspended former India cricketer Sreesanth for allegedly making false and derogatory statements against it during the controversy around Sanju Samson's omission from the Indian team for the Champions Trophy. Sreesanth had criticised KCA for dropping Samson from the Vijay Hazare Trophy squad last season. KCA had then issued him the show-cause notice for the allegations made.
Sreeasanth's comments against KCA were in violation of his contractual terms as the co-owner of the Kollam Sailors franchise. However, even then, Sreesanth didn't back down and instead, lambasted KCA in an interview given to Kerala media outlet Onmanorama. "They (KCA) take players from other states to play for us. For what? Disrespectful to our Malayali cricketers.
"We have just one player at the 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 level?" he said.
Moreover, in relation to Sreesanth's controversial remarks, KCA had issued notices to franchise teams Kollam Aeries, Alappuzha Team Lead, and Alappuzha Ripples as well. "Since the franchise teams gave satisfactory responses to the notices, no further action will be taken against them. However, the meeting decided to advise greater caution when appointing members to team management," KCA said in a statement, according to PTI.
Meanwhile, KCA, in its statement, also said that it will seek legal action for compensation from Sanju Samson's father, Samson Viswanath, for making allegations against the association. The association is also set to take legal action against Reji Lukose and a TwentyFour news channel anchor for the same reason.