Sreesanth confident of playing in IPL 2022

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Part of the T20 and 50 Overs World Cup-winning India side S Sreesanth has had a topsy-turvy journey. However, one can still not take away from the fact that the right-arm speedster is a fighter and like he has fought every challenge that has come his way, he is now looking to get a buyer for himself in the Indian Premier League auctions.

Although the franchises did not show much interest in the Kerala pacer at the auctions ahead of IPL 2021, this time around he has had an extended period of training and preparation. Last year's auction perhaps came at the wrong time for Sreesanth since he had only begun playing last year after his ban was lifted and Kerala had included him in the limited-overs competition.

Sreesanth is also confident about the same, as reported by sources close to SportsTiger.

Moreover, what also works in favour of the 38-year-old is the fact there is going to be a mega auction this year and two more franchises will be sitting at the auction pool, which would mean a requirement of more players. Certain then Sree might be able to attract a few franchises with the experience that he has and given that he could fill a domestic pacer slot, something which not many franchises currently have a quality crop of.

Sreesanth's last IPL appearance came in 2013 for the Rajasthan Royals and while it was speculated that the same franchise might be interested in him especially with skipper Sanju Samson being Sreesanth's Kerala teammate, that was not to be.

The date for the players' auction has not yet been announced but currently, the player retention process is underway and each of the eight franchises will get to retain four players. The two new franchises - Lucknow and Ahmedabad - will get to pick three early picks before sitting at the auction table. At the auctions this year, the purse is likely to be INR 90 crore,  more than the INR 85 crore that was available to the teams in the previous player auction.