Banned Indian cricketer S Sreesanth on Monday chided Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul for their misogynist comments on 'Koffee with Karan' talk show, but also said that the team needs the "match-winner" duo for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2019.
"I will only say that whatever happened was very bad, but the World Cup is around the corner. Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul should not have uttered the words, but they are needed for the Indian team in the World Cup because they are both match winners," Sreesanth told ANI.
The 35-year-old, who was found guilty of spot-fixing in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) and banned for life by the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) disciplinary committee, is waiting for his ban to be lifted.
When asked what he will do when his ban would be lifted, the right-arm pacer said: "I would start with playing first-class cricket and try my hands at getting into the Indian team if I am good enough. If not, I would say goodbye to my cricket dream."
Sreesanth, who is enjoying his time in the entertainment industry, also said that he has several films in Marathi, Hindi, Tamil and Kannada scheduled for release this year.
Talking about the ambition to work with acclaimed Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, he brushed aside mockery and said that people had mocked him in the past when he was aspiring to play for the Under-19 team.
"I did say I want to work with Steven Spielberg because my dreams are... If you ask my friends in Under-19, when someone asked me what do you want to do, I said, 'I want to play for the country' and they laughed. So, the same thing is here. I already did two Bollywood movies; I have also worked for film industry in south and would love to work in Hollywood as well," Sreesanth said.
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Meanwhile, when asked about his views on the Sabarimala row, the cricketer said that the rules should be followed irrespective of the Supreme Court verdict because one must respect the traditions which were created thousands of years ago.
"I am sure sooner or later it will resolve. It will not resolve by itself. We are all educated and I think we should respect the tradition which was created thousands of years back. I will stand by the Sabarimala rules. We should do what the Sabarimala rules say," Sreesanth concluded.