Former India fast bowler S Sreesanth has asserted that a lot of cricketers weren’t in contact with him after his name surfaced in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal. He was accused of spot-fixing while playing for the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR) and was slapped with a seven-year ban from all forms of cricket.

Most of his teammates, Sreesanth says, began avoiding him barring Indian stalwarts, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, and few others but the Kerala cricketer has no qualms saying he understood their apprehensions.

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During a chat with India Today, Sreesanth said, “Publicly, most of the players used to avoid me except for Viru bhai, Laxman bhai, and just three-four others would stay in touch with me. I also understood their apprehensions and I also didn’t make an effort to engage with them as there were court proceedings going on against me.”

He further added, “But then things improved in a couple of years. I met Bhajju pa (Harbhajan Singh) at the airport not too long ago and I told him when I start playing cricket I will use the bat manufactured by Bhajji Sports.”

Former pacer went on to play 27 Tests, 53 ODIs and 10 T20Is for India and was part of the teams that won the 2007 World T20 and ODI World Cup in 2011. His ban ends later this year and the 37-year-old still harbors an ambition to make an international comeback again.

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Sreesanth explained, “I hope someday I will be able to play for India again. World Test Championship excites me and my goal will be to play that. My first target is to get into the Kerala team, and hope to make an impact there. I will go through whatever needs to be done and hopefully, one day I will see myself back in India color.”