Sreesanth owes his success to meditation

Dubai, Mar 13 (UNI) Fiery Indian pacebowler Sreesanth says he had to meditate regularly to calm himself down and that helped him play cool during the recent series with Australia.

Sreesanth said he did not display his usual self during the recent Australian series. ''As a player I have always been aggressive. When I was a kid, I never used to get to bat or bowl.

''So whenever I got my hand on the ball, I used to bowl aggressively. Even when I played with my brother my aim was to bowl faster than him. Aggressiveness comes naturally to me,'' he said.

''Whenever I felt like saying something I controlled myself and did my talking when I walked back to my run up,'' he added.

''This is the first time I've played with cool. I think it has a lot to do with the Ayurvedic treatment that I underwent after my recent injury. I had to do meditation on a regular basis that really calmed me,'' he said.

The 25-year-old Keralite, who is now four short of his 50th Test wicket, claimed that challenges bring the best out of him and it was this reason that he has managed to do better against Australia in recent past.

''It does not matter whether the batsman is Andrew Symonds or anyone else. I love bowling with fire especially against someone who challenges me. I don't like to be in a comfort zone,'' Sreesanth said.

Sreesanth, brand ambassador of Snowhite, was here to give away 50 air tickets to Indians jailed for petty crimes who did not have the money to fly home.

He was at the Awir Jail distributing the tickets on behalf of Snowhite Garments to needy prisoners yesterday.

''I was deeply touched by all of them who have been away from their near and dear ones for years. Since I am an emotional person, I really feel happy to be part of such a noble cause,'' he told Gulf News.

UNI XC RAR BST1329