S. Sreesanth is down, if not entirely ‘out’ of the cricketing scheme things of which the courts will have the final say.
His attempted business ventures since becoming a cricketing star too tell a none-too-different story — of being there, but only just!
Most of his entrepreneurial ventures were based out of Kochi, his hometown. The first one was ‘Bat and Ball,’ a restaurant chain with a presence in both Kochi and Bangalore.
Co-star Robin Uthappa, who hails from Karnataka but whose mother is a Keralite, was his first business partner. This explained the presence of the ‘Bat and Ball’ outlet in Bangalore.
But the business did not go too far, and was to be sold out soon.
‘Music Café,’ was his next big venture, promoted in partnership with brother Deepu Santhan and brother-in-law and acclaimed playback singer Madhu Balakrishnan.
There were offspring businesses under the larger Music Café banner, individually dabbling in assorted cinema-TV shows, music albums and event management. But somehow Sreesanth and company failed to make any impression in this space as well.
Artiste and a trained dancer himself, Sreesanth then came up with his own band, ‘S36’, which also featured Madhu Balakrishnan, better known singer and in-law, in the lead.
Sreesanth would write the songs and compose them by himself. S36 had even gone to the extent of preparing the title song for his IPL franchisee Rajasthan Royals. But, for some reason, this failed to make the sound or see the light of the day.
The latest known venture was a countrywide franchise in the company of brother Deepu Santhan dealing in international brands for sports equipment. A sports management company and a new chain of restaurants were also in the making, sources say.
At the height of his career, Sreesanth used to endorse a bevy of brands including Nike, SB Global Educational, real estate firm Mather and the Muthoot Pappachan Group.
It remains to be seen whether the brands would stand by him, given the prevailing controversy over spot-fixing.