Ban on S. Sreesanth and Company May be Reviewed: BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur to NDTV

"I'm sure I will at least get a chance to play club cricket. If I get a chance to play club cricket, I'm sure I'll perform and I'll be back."

Those are the words with which S Sreesanth signified how hope is eternal while speaking to NDTV. Now, for the first time since a local court in New Delhi discharged Sreesanth and his former Rajasthan Royals Cricketers, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila there is hope for the cricketers.

BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur spoke exclusively to NDTV and said "For the moment the life ban stays and I haven't received any request from anybody regarding Sreesanth. If some request does come I will look into the matter''

This is a day after the Kerala Express, Sreesanth got the support of the Kerala Cricket Association. TC Mathew, the President of Sreesanth's State Cricket Association said "He has got a favourable verdict from the Patiala House Court. So, at this juncture we can only request the BCCI to lift the ban".

For the moment BCCI has not received the communique that TC Mathew will make to the board seeking overturning of Sreesanth's ban. But will the BCCI discuss the matter in its next Working Committee Meeting?

"If need be" said Anurag Thakur.

The Board Secretary though made it clear that discussing the matter or the court's decision does not necessarily mean they will lift the life ban.

"Discharged by criminal court and acquitted after trial is totally different. Discharged from criminal proceedings doesn't necessarily imply that the person charged is not guilty. Court has also appreciated the effort of the Delhi Police and discharged and exonerated are two different things," said Thakur. (Sreesanth Returns to Training)

The BCCI may seem to be on the back foot but for the moment they are maintaining their stance, citing examples of former instances of cricketers linked with fixing in cricket like Mohommad Azharuddin. In those cases too, the bans were not handed by the courts but through BCCI disciplinary proceedings. So for the richest cricket board in the world, a court decision influenced more by hard evidence than by soft connection of the dots means nothing to them. (Sreesanth Permitted To Practice In Kochi Stadium, Says Greater Cochin Development Authority)

But is the BCCI acting in haste?

On the 14th of September, 2013, N. Srinivasan, Arun Jaitley and Ravi Sawani (Then Head of the BCCI's Anti-Corruption Unit) met Sreesanth to hear him out. But only an hour after the Kerala pacer walked out of the meeting, expressing his faith in the BCCI and the Judiciary, the disciplinary committee handed him a life ban. (Sreesanth Comes Home to an Emotional Welcome)

Two years later, less than two hours after Saturday's court judgement which discharged Sreesanth and company, the BCCI sent out another media release.

"Any disciplinary proceeding or decision taken by the BCCI is independent to any criminal proceeding and has no bearing. The decisions of the BCCI, based on its independent disciplinary action, shall remain unaltered."

That begs the questions. Are these knee jerk reactions from the BCCI? In an attempt to clean the severely tainted image of the game, is the BCCI overdoing it? Surely, if the courts couldn't be satisfied by the evidence you have banked on to ban Sreesanth, can your disciplinary committee or process, be considered more full proof than a courts? India may not have a law that punishes offenders for spot-fixing, but the court discharged the trio because the prosecution failed to prove spot-fixing actually happened. Whether spot-fixing occurred or not, is the BCCI's process more thorough, fair and dependable, than the sometimes questionable yet extensively proven and experienced judicial process in India? (Why Delhi Police Failed to Clean Bowl Sreesanth & Co.)

The BCCI will have to find answers to these questions or fear portraying itself as greater than the judicial system of the country, something that didn't quite go down well with the apex court of India when the recent historic Supreme Court appointed Panel's verdict left the BCCI without 2 franchisees for 2 years of the IPL.

Meanwhile, Sreesanth remains humble, doesn't seek vengeance, punitive damages for character assassination, or another court case to force the BCCI to immediately over turn the damage saying "I'll not go against the BCCI. If I am known as Sreesanth, it is because of the BCCI." (Sreesanth and Team India - The Bridges Have Already Been Burnt)

The cynic would think Sreesanth's only saying this because he fears the power of the richest cricket Board in the World. The optimist would agree with the technical haven the BCCI has taken yet hope they review the life ban. What are you?