THE LUCKY MASCOT? Even after his disastrous start, S Sreesanth found himself playing the finals of the Cricket World Cup that India won.

  It’s a somewhat sedate and newly shorn S Sreesanth who greets you at his hotel room in Bangalore on Wednesday night. The infamously tempestuous bowler, who cricket fans will remember seeing wild-haired and teary-eyed on Saturday night when India took home the World Cup, was back in the city to walk the ramp for a charity event before he took off to join the Kochi IPL team for a practice match. But he took time out to get a long overdue haircut earlier in the day. “I chopped my hair today. I was growing it for 11 months before the World Cup and people were asking me when I was going to cut it. I will offer it at Tirupati when I get the chance to go,” Sree told BT.
    There was much debate over the fast bowler’s inclusion in the World Cup squad, and he admits that he himself never thought he’d make the team, let alone play in the final. “I didn’t expect to be in the playing 11 this time; I wasn’t even in the 15-member team before the tournament. So it was quite something to be given the new ball in our first match against Bangladesh,” he says. Sree maintains that it was his teammates’ encouragement that stood him in good stead throughout the final, even from his so-called nemesis Harbhajan Singh. “It’s all thanks to Dhoni and Sachin bhai. Bhajji called me up the previous night and said, ‘You might play tomorrow, so be prepared.’ Suresh Raina also encouraged me. All these small gestures made a difference,” he reveals.
    Team India’s “lucky charm”, as Sunil Gavaskar has called Sree, also recalls all the team’s successful campaigns he played that led him to getting that nickname — some of the most memorable ones being the India-Pakistan ODI series in 2006, (his first away series) and the T20 World Cup final in 2007, when he took the last catch which led to India winning the tournament. Does he think he’ll be as lucky for Team Kochi? Sree admits that “I’m still in World Cup mode, so it’ll be tough to get into T20 mode”. But in the wake of his face-off with his Kochi captain Mahela Jayawardene at the World Cup final, will it be even more tough to fit into the team? “Nothing happened with Jayawardene. I just said ‘Come on, captain!’ or something like that. I don’t know what people heard. I wasn’t being aggressive,” he maintains.
    What Sree wants to do now is become “a utility player”. “While Gary Kirsten said that I may be more suited to Tests, I should also work towards being more of an ODI player as well. I want to be an all-rounder,” he says. Does that mean he will tone down his famous aggression? “I’ve sacrificed a lot, but I’ve never changed. Only the people closest to me know that. People call it aggression, I call it passion. When I play, I think about today, not tomorrow,” he says.
    He is also looking further into the future at the prospect of playing in the 2015 World Cup. “The biggest challenge will be to not get carried away by the World Cup,” he says, admitting that he was guilty of doing exactly that after India won the T20 World Cup. “I’m 28, I want to make sure I’m fit for the next World Cup. I’m looking forward to playing in Australia and New Zealand. They have better wickets to bowl. I’d love to lead the attack,” he says resolutely.