Sreesanth issued show cause notice KCA for ‘false and defamatory’ statements over Sanju Samson omission | Cricket News

The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) has issued a show cause notice to former India cricketer S Sreesanth for making “false and defamatory” statements against the association in a television show. Sreesanth had questioned KCA on their decision to overlook Sanju Samson from the domestic white-ball season for Kerala. Samson was reportedly omitted from India’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad for not playing the Vijay Hazare tournament. KCA said its show cause notice was not for Sreesanth showing support to Samson, but for “making false and defamatory statements” which, KCA said, was a violation of his contractual terms as the co-owner of the Kollam Sailors franchise in the Kerala Cricket League.
In its response to Sreesanth’s comments, KCA brought up the infamous spot-fixing case against Sreesanth to say that it always supported players, even if they were in jail, which was a dig at the former India pacer.
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“When Sreesanth was in jail facing allegations in the infamous match-fixing scandal, KCA officials visited and supported him. Although the court quashed the criminal case, it is a fact that he has not been acquitted in the match-fixing case. In such a situation, there is no need for Sreesanth to take up the protection of other players,” the statement read.
In 2013, Delhi Police had arrested Sreesanth on charges of spot-fixing. Sreesanth was one of three Rajasthan Royals players to be banned from cricket for his involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal. In July 2015, the Patiala House court dropped all charges against Sreesanth, Chandila, and Chavan in the spot-fixing case, saying there was no prima facie case under MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) to be made out against them. Then, in March 2019, the Supreme Court lifted the lifetime ban on him.
“It was only because of KCA’s protective approach that Sreesanth was given opportunities in matches including the Ranji Trophy after completing his sentence. It is worth investigating whether other associations have taken such a favorable approach towards players involved in match-fixing,” it further quoted.
Sreesanth had asked which international player KCA had managed to produce after Samson. At this, KCA slammed Sreesanth’s “ignorance about Kerala cricket” before ling out names of players: “Sajna Sajeevan, Minnumani, Asha Shobana, and junior players like Joshitha V.J. in the Under-19 World Cup winning team, Najla CMC in the Under-19 team, and Mohammed Inan in the Under-19 Asia Cup team.” Story continues below this ad
However, Sreesanth did not back down after the show cause notice, instead lambasting KCA in an interview with Kerala media outlet Onmanorama where he questioned why KCA has been overlooking Malayalis and getting players from the other associations. “They (KCA) take players from other states to play for us. For what? Disrespectful to our Malayali cricketers,” he said.
“We have just one player at international level, Sanju. Let’s all support him,” Sreesanth said. “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?” he questioned.
Earlier, explaining why Samson was ignored, KCA secretary Vinod S Kumar told The Indian Express: “Sanju had sent an email stating that he would not be available for the camp. The team had a short camp in Wayanad without him. Naturally, we only considered those who were part of the sessions for selection. There has been no further discussion with him on the matter.”