No S before and no space in between. It’s decided that it’s just one word now — he’s Sreesanth, “and it will remain like that only,” he says with a teasing smile, knowing that frantic and frequent changes in his name have earned him a notorious identity. The Kerela paceman might have cleared everyone of constant doubts, but he himself is in a quandary. Sreesanth is comfortable wearing the skins — the tight blue outfit — while he’s at nets and playing matches. It allows the body to recover quickly and prevents any major injury. But there’s one little problem — it doesn’t allow him to display his new passions publicly. Yes, Sreesanth is into a whole new domain, having suddenly grown a fetish for tattoos. The new ball operator for Team India has a tattoo rolling on each arm, just over his bulging biceps. “I have gone a bit crazy again,” he says. “I have a tattoo of Faith written in Chinese language on one arm. that has been for a while now, but just before I came on this Australia tour I got a Scorpion done on my other arm too. That is because I am Scorpio,” he says accepting a belated birthday wish for turning 26 yesterday. “It was fun.”He agrees that it’s difficult for him to show off his tattoos, but trust Sreesanth to have found an answer to that already. “I have decided to get a third tattoo done, just behind my collarbone, so that it’s visible to all,” he grins. I will have a barcode tattoo which will have my date of birth,” he says. Sreesanth seems to be totally prepared for this Australia tour. Not only has he matched the Australians with their passion for tattoos — half of the Australian team members have tattoos, with Michael Clarke heading the count with three — but he’s making a conscious attempt to mingle with the crowd and be his usual friendly-self despite all that was talked about a fiery welcome from the crowd. It’s been 10 days since Sreesanth has arrived Down Under, but there’s been no incident that people were apprehensive about. The crowd has not been too hostile to him; maybe that’s because they have a greater subject in Harbhajan Singh, but the paceman insists that “meditation and yoga has changed Sreesanth.” Talk about anything, and he’s game for a little chit-chat, but Sreesanth doesn’t want to talk about his cricket or his bowling. And that’s Sreesanth’s way of saying that he will let the ball do all the talking here.
