Sreesanth STUNS fans by dismissing Shikhar Dhawan, Nitish Rana on comeback trail: WATCH

Even if he falls flat in the games that remain, one of the greatest sports stories to come out of this year will be the Sreesanth comeback story at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021. Once a mainstay of the Indian national men's side, Sreesanth's career nearly ended in 2013. The 2013 Indian Premier League spot-fixing case - which initially led to a lifetime ban before being reduced to a seven-year-long ban - has turned the once aggressive, 20-something bowler into a battle-hardened man.

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Now an older and perhaps a much wiser man of 37, Sreesanth has tried hard to shake away the image he has earned from the 2013 scandal. The Kerala bowler has kept his down - mostly - through these seven years, only describing the anguish he felt at apparently being treated so harshly after his controversy. At the time of his sentencing, Sreesanth had said that it was his dream to play just one more game for India. Sreesanth's promising career with India may have come to an end, but he has not given up yet. 

At a time when almost all his contemporaries have retired and taken up lives of less toil and trouble, Sreesanth has decided that to make up for lost time. Having picked up everything from acting to politics to reality TV, the feisty cricketer returned to his home ground sometime in September last year - a sort of pilgrimage after 7 years - to get back to basics. With the full weight of the Kerala Cricket Association behind him, Sreesanth has prospered on the field. 

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Sreesanth scalps Dhawan and Nitish Rana as Kerala take on Delhi at the SMAT 2021

After seven years dreaming of the moment, Sreesanth knocked over Puducherry opener Fabid Ahmed's stumps to get his first wicket of the season recently. He ended the match with figures of 29-1, nothing remarkable and yet a huge deal for the man himself. Going at 47-0 in the next game against Mumbai, it would have been easy to forget that Sreesanth is a veteran of 44 IPL games with 40 wickets to his name. However, it is his performance in the game against table-toppers, Delhi that made the news on Friday.

Playing against mostly untested youngsters until now, Sreesanth was yet to face a challenge akin to that of his earlier days. But in facing Delhi, Sreesanth faced two experienced players - Shikhar Dhawan and Nitish Rana. With Dhawan in sublime form and Rana looking to accelerate, Kerala captain Sanju Samson called on his most experienced bowler to seek help - and help he did. Sreesanth ended Dhawan's might knock of 77 for 48 while Rana was sent back at just 16 for 11 as Delhi finished with a massive 212 on the board. It worked majorly as Kerala have won the game after a gutsy 91 by Robin Uthappa and 71 off 38 by Vishnu Vinod.

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Image Credits: Sreesanth Twitter

Video Credits: BCCI