Cricketer Sreesanth wants to settle down in Bangalore

 

  Cricketer Sreesanth has a music career in his sights. He has revealed that once he retires from cricket, he will take completely to music like many others in his family. “There is a band back in Kochi, named S36 (36 is his jersey number). My brother-in-law Madhu Balakrishnan looks after it. Even though I love music and come from a family of artistes, I cannot play an active role in the band as my focus will be completely on cricket till I retire. But in future, I will compose music. I’ll compose songs for Kannada movies also. But I am not leaving cricket anytime soon,” he says. 

    The cricketer is now recovering from an injury related surgery. He is set to begin running in March and should be match-fit by April. “I cannot worry about what I cannot control,” he says about his injury. 

    Sreesanth does compose bits of music. “It is easy these days with so many mobile applications. I send them to my brother-in-law who puts them together. Our band had come out with an album called Desh. We did not sell it but released it over the internet. We have now recalled it so as to give it a decent release some time later,” he says. 

    Asked how he is spending his time during the recovery period, he quipped, “Even cricketers have hobbies. Watching movies is a stressbuster for me.” 

    He has got a new home in Tulsi Apartments on Rest House Road, which he says is his favourite place in the city. “I love Bangalore. It is very friendly and everybody is there for everyone. People are always helpful and I can be myself without trying. The people are also culturally inclined,” he says. 

    Sreesanth came to Bangalore as a school boy. He was also was a national champion in dancing while at school. “I studied in Florence School, RT Nagar and still remember that the first Kannada movie I watched in a movie hall was rated ‘A.’ I have watched many Kannada films and the last was Vishnuvardhana. I am a fan of Sudeep.” 

 
    Asked how his on-field behaviour is taken by people, Sreesanth says, “On the field, I take it as a war. A lot of people talk about my behaviour. But the character they see on the field is not what I am elsewhere. I am patriotic and during matches it comes out like that. The album which our band made consisted of nine patriotic songs, some parts of which I wrote,” he says. 

    Sreesanth, however, refused to comment on India’s recent performance Down Under. “I will not speak about specific things. But in sports nobody plays to lose. Every cricketer plays to his full potential. Sometimes the others are better,” he says. 

    The delay over his return to action is because he does not want to go unprepared. “I am a fast bowler. So I do not want to make a comeback and bowl at 120 kmph. I want to reach and breach 140 kmph. I believe in my ability and I have patience.” 

 News&Photo Courtesy: S Shyam Prasad  shyam.prasad1@timesgroup.com