Cricketer-turned-actor S Sreesanth had one of the most controversial career in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) which was impaired by a slap-gate controversy, match-fixing allegations and rumours of his rift with Rajasthan Royals’ coach Paddy Upton.

Upton, in his autobiography, had alleged Sreesanth of abusing him when he was not allowed to play against franchise Chennai Super Kings in an IPL fixture.

In an interview to Indian Express, Sreesanth denied the allegation of abusing Upton, saying that he requested RR coach many times to let him to play against CSK because of his hatred for the franchise.

“Mr Upton, touch your heart and touch your kid’s heads, did I ever abuse you either during India team or in IPL? I want to ask the legend Rahul Dravid, someone whom I respect and love, when did I ever fight with him? When did I abuse with him the way Upton said in his book?” he said.

“I requested Upton many times to let me play that game — only because of my history with CSK and because I wanted to defeat them. He made it out differently that I wanted to play as if for fixing. Everybody knows how much I hate CSK, I don’t have to say. People might say because of MS Dhoni or N Srinivasan sir or whatever but that’s not the truth; I just hate the yellow colour. I hated Australia for the same reason. Most importantly, I have done extremely well against CSK that’s why I wanted to play,” Sreesanth added.

“That allegation that I abused the two was the most disappointing. That was bigger than torture by police. That thing still hurts. Other players would talk about Upton, “Yeh kaun hai bey, Kirsten sab kuch karte hain (who is this guy, Kirsten does everything).’ Have I ever behaved like that with him? I really hope your book sells more because you seem so desperate,” he further said.

Reacting to the life ban imposed on him reduced to 7 years by Supreme Court, an elated Sreesanth had said he would make sure to train really hard to make a comeback not just for Kerala but the Indian cricket team as well.

"Thank you to each & every individual who supported me. Thanks to BCCI, Supreme Court, Ombudsman DK Jain, for giving me an opportunity from next year.", Sreesanth told ANI.