S Sreesanth booked in cheating case in Kerala, cricketer denies involvement

The Kerala police on Thursday registered a case against former India pacer S Sreesanth and two others in connection with a cheating complaint. Apart from Sreesanth, the FIR includes Rajiv Kumar, 50, and Venkatesh Kini, 43, as the other accused. The former India cricketer, however, has hit back at the charges labelled against him.The case was filed based on the complaint by Sareesh Balagopalan, a resident of Choonda Kannapuram, who alleged that he was cheated of Rs 18.7 lakh on various dates from April 25, 2019.Sreesanth and the two others have been booked under IPC Section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property).According to the complaint, the money was apparently taken for the construction of a sports academy at Kollur, Karnataka, where Sreesanth has been named as the third accused in the case.Sreesanth, meanwhile, has dismissed all the allegations on X (formerly Twitter) and said that he was not involved in any financial transactions."I want to emphasize that I have absolutely no involvement in any case whatsoever. I have not engaged in any financial transactions or any other activities at all. I truly appreciate the support and love from each and every one of you," he wrote.He added that legal action will be taken against people who have named him in the cheating case."I have no involvement with them whatsoever. It is truly disheartening to witness individuals attempting to amplify this situation into something significant. I assure you that legal action will be taken against these person ..thnls for the support," he wrote.Sreesanth was banned by the Board of Contol for Cricket in India (BCCI) for a lifetime in August 2013 along with his Rajasthan Royals teammates Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan for indulging in alleged spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) that year. However, his lifetime ban was reduced to seven years in 2019, which was completed in September 2020.Following his ban, he made a comeback after being named in the 20-member squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2021 for the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA).In 2021 and 2022, he got shortlisted for the IPL auction but went unsold on both occasions.Making his Test debut in March 2006, Sreesanth has played 27 matches with 87 wickets and 281 runs in his kitty. He has played 53 ODI matches and scalped 75 wickets.He played his first T20I match in December 2006, after which he played a total of 10 matches and took 7 wickets.With ANI inputs