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NEWS India-South Africa Series 2006>The emergence of Sreesanth 18th Dec 2006 22.43 IST By Manish Kumar S Sreesanth has hogged all the limelight in India’s emphatic and historic first-ever Test victory on South African soil that came at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. With his superb seam-up deliveries, Sreesanth took five wickets as South Africa were bowled out for their lowest score of 84 against India in their first innings.
However, his habit of bowling yorkers lead Sreesanth to convert to fast bowling, after being encouraged by his elder brother. Following in the footsteps of fellow Kerala fast bowler Tinu Yohannan, who earned selection to the National Cricket Academy in 2000, Sreesanth was selected for the MRF Pace foundation in Chennai. Sreesanth then made his first-class debut against Goa in the 2002-03 domestic season, claiming 22 wickets in seven matches in the Ranji Trophy and meriting a selection for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy squad in the same season. Sreesanth was then selected for India-A side in a tour match against the visiting New Zealand side at Rajkot. He claimed one wicket in twelve overs after being restricted with a hamstring injury. In November 2004, Sreesanth entered the record books when he took a hat-trick against Himachal Pradesh in a Ranji trophy game, the first time it was achieved by a Kerala bowler, earning him the nickname The Prince of hat-tricks amongst Keralites. Sreesanth was then selected to represent India B in the Challenger Trophy in October 2005 and his strong performance in that tournament, being the leading wicket taker with the third best bowling average lead to selection for the Indian team for the home ODI series against Sri Lanka . Sreesanth was given the new ball in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Nagpur. After being punished early by Kumar Sangakarra and Sanath Teran Jayasuriya , Sreesanth returned to claim his first two ODI wickets at the end of the match. He was then left out of the team and was later recalled for the fourth, fifth and sixth ODIs as coach Greg Chappell tinkered with the line-up. Sreesanth was retained in the squad but did not play in the ODI series against South Africa, but played all five matches in the tour to Pakistan , recording a haul of 4/58 in the fifth ODI in Karachi. A good home series against England in April 2006, in which Sreesanth claimed 10 wickets at an average of 16.3, including a career best 6/55 in the final match at Indore, led to him subsequently being awarded a BCCI contract, in the C-grade in May. But his disappointing economy rate led Sreesanth to be culled from the ICC Champions Trophy squad of 14, with the beneficiary being Rudra Pratap Singh . But he made an unexpected come back to the blue squad due to the injury to Ajit Agarkar later in the tournament. Sreesanth was selected for his first Test squad in the home series against England in March 2006, in place of Zaheer Khan and claimed 4/95 in his debut appearance in the 1st Test in Nagpur, where he opened the bowling with Irfan Pathan . Sreesanth was then ruled out of the second Test in Mohali due to illness, but recovered and captured five wickets in the Third Test in Mumbai. With the axing of Pathan, Sreesanth became India's leading pace bowler on the tour of the West Indies . He missed the second Test due to an injury but managed to claim his best match figures of 5/72 in the 4th Test in Kingston, Jamaica. In his early years, Sreesanth was a break dancer, becoming the national champion whilst in eighth grade. And his dancing skills did come to the fore on Saturday, the third day of the Wanderers Test, Sreesanth gave one of the most fitting replies to Andre Nel who went up to him and hit out at his lack of heart to play his deliveries. Sreesanth hit a straight six of his very next delivery and went into a riot swinging his bat and hip in merry and dancing down the pitch. As long as Sreesanth keeps up the good work with the ball, nobody will really mind the histrionics, because he a rare fast bowling find for India, who has left such an impression abroad so early in his career. Also View In-Depth Coverage: India-South Africa Series 2006 Team Page: India Team Page: South Africa | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
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