Vijay Hazare Trophy 2020-21: Sreesanth takes a five-wicket haul after IPL auction snub

What do you do when people ignore you in spite of your best efforts? What do you do when you are not provided the chance to prove your worth at the biggest stage in spite of sweating it out every day? Well, there is just one answer to it. You go and sweat it out even more. You go out and perform better so that when the next opportunity comes, you are rewarded.

Life has not been fair to S. Sreesanth. In the 2013 edition of the IPL, the pacer was caught in the spot-fixing scandal, and his cricketing career was in tatters. However, after more than 7 years, the Indian pacer made a return to professional cricket, with the desire to once again take part in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and with a desire to once again wear the national jersey.

But then, Sreesanth was in for a rude shock as his name was not shortlisted in the final list of candidates for the 2021 IPL auctions. However, he has still not lost hope and is still running in, giving his absolute best in every single match that he plays.

Sreesanth picks a five-wicket haul in Vijay Hazare trophy

In the Vijay Hazare Trophy encounter that took place between Kerala and Uttar Pradesh on Monday, Sreesanth was the stand-out performer for the Kerala side with the ball. In the 9.4 overs that he bowled, the pacer took 5 wickets and gave away 65 runs. It was a statement of sorts by him, to prove to his critics that he will continue to bowl with passion and not get bogged down.

As far as the match is concerned, the Kerala side beat the Uttar Pradesh side by 3 wickets. After the Bhuvneshwar Kumar-led side was bowled out for 283, the Kerala batsmen stepped up in a tricky chase to help their side to chase down a challenging target of 284 with 3 wickets and 1.1 overs to spare.

Veteran batsman Robin Uthappa was the star with the bat for Kerala and scored a menacing 55 ball 81. He received adequate support from skipper Sachin Baby, who scored an 83 ball 76.

Sreesanth is now 38 years old but still has the desire to play for India. And, if he keeps getting ignored, he should go out and perform with more vigor until his efforts bear fruit.