The Forgotten Warriors EP: 4
Dec 29, 2010: Day 4: 8th over of the day. SA off to a cautious start. Kallis looks settled on 17(55). He hasn't let his guard down as yet since he knows that he is up against uncanny Indian pacer with "give it back" attitude.

After negotiating the first ball of the over, Kallis gears up for the next. The pacer completes his ritual of praying and with eyes filled with aggression, he charges in and as soon as he reaches closer to the crease, the dancer in him takes over his hands and...

With an undulating motion, and perfect seam position, he pitches it just short of a length. The ball bounces off as if it is assigned to a mission of taking @jacqueskallis75's head on its way. Kallis fends at it, ball smacks his gloves and off it goes to gully who holds it.

If you have seen the video given above, you might have guessed it by now about whom we shall remember in this episode of The Forgotten Warriors. Yep pals, it is @sreesanth36. The 1983 born Kerala's Speedster has been as thrilling as the year of his birth has been for Indians.

Beyond Ordinary
Aforementioned "uncanny" word is not a jibe. Sreesanth was no normal Indian bowler who would day in and day out bowl with a smile at face. He was aggressive (at-times ultraaggressive). As a bowler, he was no less than a Casino...

..because there was nothing in between in his performances. He would on his day help India bowl the best team out for an 80 odd in their backyard. And if it was not his day or series, he could go for an underwhelming avg of 62 and would look all over the place. Surreal, right?

The spotlight
Sreesanth and spotlights are synonyms. It was befitting that his national call came after one such event. He was selected for 2005 Challenger trophy to represent Ind B after taking a hattrick in a Ranji game against Himachal.

He then traps Sachin with a peach angling back ever so slightly while the master was batting on 4. He was impressive in the tournament and was awarded MoS. And boom, the national call. Hence, became the 2nd player from his state to represent the country.

The start
His debut series against SL was mundane and so was dropped in the next series. However, he was selected for the series against Pak where the world saw his aggression and dance move in full swing along with some seam & swing. He recorded a 4-wicket haul here.

The high's
The last ODI vs Pak started the best 2 years of Sreesanth the bowler. He followed the good form in the series against Eng where he took his career best fig 6/55 at Indore. In the whites, he was soon our leading pace bowler after taking a 5-fer against Eng in Ind.

In this period (2006-2008), Sreesanth claimed 112 wickets across all formats making him 4th in the list of wicket takers in the same period among Indian bowlers. Was among top 25 bowlers in the world. The period coincided with 3 best spells that defined Indian cricket.

5-72 (in the match) vs West Indies at Kingston
India had never won a test series in WI for 35 years and were humiliated in the ODI series that preceded the test matches by 4-1. First 3 tests ended in a stalemate and it was all on the last test to salvage some pride.

..Sreesanth was fired up after missing the 2nd test due to injury. Ind got bowled out for 200. Sreesanth opened the bowling and in the 4th ball of the innings, knocking the stumps of dangerous Gayle, with a perfect in-dipper to the leftie, & soon got Lara hoping to a ripper!

Though he took just 3 more in the second innings were of the openers (dismissed Gayle for a pair), and well set Sarwan for 51. And off, Ind won the match and the series in West Indies after 35 years!
He also played a very good assist role in the test series in Eng in 2007.

4-1-12-2 vs Aus, T20 Semi Final
In the inaugural T20 WC, India were set to play Aus. Batting first, India, thanks to @YUVSTRONG12 storm, set Aus a target of 189. While the target is easy to defend against most teams but against Aussies with a line up that had...

... Haydos, Gilly, Ponting, Symonds, Clarke. Well, India needed someone capable to give the Aussies taste of their own medicine and as Sree mentioned few days back, Dhoni knew only Sree could do it, and boy he did it in his style.

In a high scoring game, he was not only tight (ER of 3). He first got Gilly and then at a crucial stage, banged a pinpoint yorker to dismiss Haydos for 62 and then the send off that is etched into our memories forever!

With Love, South Africa
@sreesanth36 figures in SA read as M 6 W 27, Avg 28.85. Only Srinath has been better than Sree in picking more wickets at a lesser avg in Africa. So, it is fitting that I conclude this episode the way I started it by remembering his best spell in SA!

5-40 vs SA 1st Test Joh'burg
India had never won a test in SA, India had lost the ODI series as well and were batting first on a tricky, pacy wicket. However, thanks to Ganguly 2.0, India managed to score 249 and needed one good spell to get the game in the grasp

Off goes Sreesanth! Smith, Amla, Kallis, Boucher, and Pollock. All biting the dust. SA 84 all-out, and the marker for the first test win in SA was set. He followed this same in 2010 tour in Durban, and by taking 5-fer in Cape town. With likes of Amla, AbD, and Smith avgd < 30..

.. against him. Their worst avgs against any bowler! He was similarly instrumental in India's first ODI series win in Aus. However, his cricketing career was hampered by the scandal that he was later acquitted off. He will be able to play again from Aug 2020!

I hope this thread will make you wait for his arrival into cricket. While the man never goes off air thanks to his statements, the people who have seen his best will hope he still has something to offer to the Indian cricket team and by this I conclude. Thank you all!

I am eager to see this seam position again! Are you guys excited as well? @carromball_ thanks for the tweet! https://twitter.com/carromball_/status/1255782488099581952?s=19

More on his seam! Best of the lot! @MSDivyanshu's tweet: https://twitter.com/MSDivyanshu/status/1266952216939823107?s=19