Ankeet Chavan: Cricket is in my blood

Ankeet Chavan. Picture/Atul Kamble

Former Mumbai and Rajasthan Royals left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan on Tuesday was cleared by the BCCI to resume cricket after his seven-year ban ended in May following the BCCI ombudsman Justice DK Jain's ruling.

Chavan was banned for life by the Indian cricket board in 2013 along with S Sreesanth and Ajit Chandila for their involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing case. Chavan will be the second cricketer after Sreesanth to be able to resume the game.

Chavan, 35, a Shivaji Park resident, was thrilled to be back in action when he spoke to mid-day.com following BCCI's email on Tuesday.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

How relieved are you?
It's a huge sigh of relief for me, my family and the close bunch of friends. I am excited to start my cricketing journey back.

I have been very much in touch with the game. One thing is for sure... cricket cannot go out of me neither can I go away from cricket. It's in my blood. Making a comeback was the only thing that kept me going all this while. I have always been practising and keeping myself fit. I am really looking forward to starting as soon as the grounds open up.

How do you plan to restart your cricket?
I am aiming for club-level and corporate cricket at the moment. I haven't planned anything on that front as I was waiting to get official clearance from the BCCI to resume my cricket. Now that I have got it, I will inform my company (Air India) that my ban is over and I can resume cricket.

As of now, I am not thinking about where I will play and what I will do. I just want to give my best and keep performing. The court has given me a clean chit and now the BCCI has allowed me to resume my cricket. I knew I was clean. I will perform to my best and my performance will speak for myself.

How difficult was it to stay away from the game?
It has been really tough to stay away from cricket because all I would do is eat, drink and sleep cricket. That's where my family and close friends helped me and kept telling me that my time will come.

My wife (Neha) stood by me then and is still doing so now. She kept me going and took care of me during my good and bad times.

Will you react if you get some nasty comments following resumption?
I am not worried about all that. If I think about what is happening outside the game then I can't focus on what is happening in the game. I would rather focus on what I have to do.

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