Play

Sreesanth’s antics on the field alone during his tenure with the Indian team could have made up for a potboiler. It had stylish, at-times borderline cartoon-ish dance moves, tears, face-offs, and two World Cup wins: One of them had him hold on to the catch that won India the 2007 World Twenty20.

There was space for romance, too, if one had to read anything into his constant linkups to Bollywood actresses during his single days. The story had an anti-climatic end after he received a life ban for his alleged involvement in the Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal of 2013. Recently, he also contested Assembly elections in Kerala as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, but lost.

Alas, that real-life Sreesanth script would have to wait for another day as the former Indian pacer plays a stylish youth who romances Nikki Galrani during the day and moonlights into a bike racer at night. For the gamut of expressions he displayed on the cricket field, nearly making Malayalam superstars Mohanlal and Mammooty shudder in insecurity, Sreesanth comes across as a misfit and shows as many expressions as a cricket bat.

The Kerala audience have not taken to Sreesanth’s entry into films kindly and sparked off a torrent of trolling on social media. “Team 5” is produced by Raj Zacharias and is directed by Suresh Govind.