Sreesanth’s kin, friends ecstatic over bail

A moment of faith: Cricketer Sreesanth’s parents and other family members offer prayers at St. Antony’s Church at Kaloor in the city on Monday. — Photo: Vipin Chandran

Ecstasy and relief washed over friends and relatives of cricketer S. Sreesanth as news about his being granted bail by the Sessions Court in Saket, Delhi, reached here on Monday evening.

For Sreesanth’s parents it was an auspicious moment, literally. They learned about his release on bail as they were coming out of the Chottanikkara temple after offering prayers for the well-being of their son.

“Our prayers have been answered. Thanks to all who prayed and supported us and our son during this testing period. I am now just waiting for him,” Sreesanth’s mother Savitri Devi told The Hindu over the phone. Sreesanth’s father Santhakumaran Nair could not find words as he thanked God for his son’s release.

Expressing gratitude for the support extended by all, he requested everyone to continue it. Madhu Balakrishnan, singer and Sreesanth’s brother-in-law, who was driving the family back from the temple, said the whole family had left everything to God.

“God has repaid that faith. It also shows that truth will eventually come out no matter what. May God help to prove that Sreesanth is innocent,” he said. Senior lawyer of the Supreme Court and Sreesanth’s counsel Rebecca John welcomed the court decision. “We are deeply grateful to the Sessions Court at Saket for granting bail to Sreesanth. We always believed that there was overwhelming evidence in his favour and that the police case was purely conjectural and without basis,” she said. S.K. Nair, former secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, was glad and relieved to learn about Sreesanth’s release on bail.

“The court’s strong statement for invoking Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against Sreesanth is an indictment of the Delhi Police”, he said.

Jayan Thekkedath, a close friend of Sreesanth who has been in Delhi for most of the time since the cricketer’s arrest, said, “We now hope that BCCI will take a positive position that will help Sree to continue playing cricket.”

Bipin, a childhood friend who has played alongside Sreesanth at the club level, learned about his friend’s release while on the way back from a tour and it further added to the celebratory mood.