"He is the John McEnroe of Indian cricket. People see his behaviour on the field and automatically assume that is the way he is in real life,'' said KN Raghavan, former international cricket umpire to me, soon after Sreesanth was named in the spot-fixing case by the Delhi Police in 2013. Raghavan has known Sreesanth for 14 years and always maintained that a cricketer who came up the hard way, belonged to a God-fearing middle class family and is known for his commitment to the game, will never sell himself for a few lakh rupees.

Raghavan stands vindicated today for his faith in Sreesanth and his innocence. And what a resounding slap it is for the likes of Delhi Police chief Neeraj Kumar whose team probed the scandal and bragged endlessly about having incriminating evidence, the former BCCI president N Srinivasan who lost no time in slapping a life ban on Sreesanth. And hypocrites like TC Mathew of the Kerala Cricket Association who said that Sreesanth - the first big cricketer to emerge from football-crazy Kerala - is not an idol for budding cricketers.

"If he inaugurates two shops in Kochi, he will make more than 40 lakh rupees. Why should he do this for money?'' one of Sreesanth's fellow cricketers from Kochi told me.

Today at Kochi Airport, before boarding the flight to Delhi, Sreesanth said, "God is with me, please pray for me'.' Breaking into tears as soon as the verdict was read out in court, Sreesanth spoke of it being a rebirth, reiterating he was "born to play cricket". But his second innings will depend on his own fitness, his prowess with the ball and most above all, the mighty BCCI.

Knowing Sreesanth, he would grab this second life with both hands. Though he had started working on life after cricket, participating in dance reality shows on television and talked of working in a Telugu film, it was clear that he longed to return to the 22 yards. One of the first things he will do now is to request the BCCI to allow him to use its cricketing facilities.

"He is a strange character, extremely emotional, who will do things at the spur of the moment," says T C Mathew. "When I was the selector for the under-13 Kerala team, he told me that he will play for India one day and sincerely worked towards that."

Sreesanth was always the odd man out in the Indian team. Temperamental, entertaining, someone who often crossed the line. Many in the Kerala Cricket Association recall that Sreesanth even during his formative years was quarrelsome and intimidating on the field and genuinely believed that this show of aggression motivated him to perform better. He had the temerity to sledge Sachin Tendulkar during a Challenger Trophy match in 2005, even before he had earned an India cap.

Run-ins with umpires, fellow and rival players and being summoned by the match referee have been part of Sreesanth's cricketing CV. While his international tantrums - be it against Mathew Hayden, Andrew Symonds or Andre Nel - are well documented, even his domestic fixtures have been replete with issues of indiscipline. In 2010, when Sreesanth was removed as Kerala Ranji team captain, he threatened to play for another state. When he patched up with the KCA, he ended up sledging Dinesh Karthick (playing for Tamil Nadu) and was suspended for two matches.

His friends however, say Sreesanth got into the news for the wrong reasons because Indian cricketers aren't known to be a tribe that displays in-your-face aggression. Wonder if new Test captain Virat Kohli of the middle finger fame will understand Sreesanth's mental make-up better.

There are many in Kochi who are more than willing to give a "very well-behaved boy" certificate to Sreesanth, off the field. They speak of him as respectful to senior cricketers, humble, even given to touching the feet of elders. He is the one who recommended Sanju Samson's name to Rajasthan Royals. It is almost as if another Sreesanth, not seen by the public, is being spoken of here.

"Sree will do anything for his friends," a tearful Savithri Devi, Sreesanth's mother, had told me. "When we had bought him a cricketing kit for the first time, he returned home without it on the first day itself. He had given it off to another boy who had been selected to play a match."

Being axed from the team in 2011 sobered Sreesanth a bit. Close friends admit to having seen him writing "I will change", "I will behave well" in his personal diary, almost as if he was engaged in a mission to reform himself.

Cricketers who have shared the dressing room with Sreesanth point out that he often sang patriotic songs and his band called S36 (Sreesanth's India jersey number was 36) had even released an album called "Desh", with Sreesanth writing the lyrics for the title track "Desh" and "Jaago India". Therefore, when he was labelled as a "cheat" and "tainted cricketer", with media trials even questioning his patriotism, it hurt.

Sreesanth, when he emerged on the India scene in 2005, offered corporates in Kerala an option to choose a brand ambassador and model different from the Mollywood spread of Mohanlal, Mammootty and Jayaram. There was a time when his face on Muthoot Group hoardings and billboards was the first thing passengers saw when they landed at Kochi Airport, as he was their brand ambassador. The endorsements dwindled once he was more out of the team than in.

After the scandal broke, the Kerala government removed him as a brand ambassador for its lottery scheme. Will chief minister Oommen Chandy reconsider his decision now? Sreesanth's business ventures - the Bat and Ball Restaurant in Bangalore and Music Cafe, his music venture along with his playback singer brother-in-law Madhu Balakrishnan - did not taste success. His sole source of income was the four lakh dollars worth contract he had with Rajasthan Royals.

Once a man is down and out, he is easy meat. Plants by sources spoke of the alleged presence of a woman with him when he was arrested in Mumbai, setting tongues wagging about Sreesanth's love for a colourful life. Stories started appearing about his habit of bragging about conquests of a different kind to junior cricketers. There were reports that bookie Jiju Janardhanan had attempted to record an MMS of Sreesanth, leading to suspicion whether the cricketer was also being blackmailed with incriminating stuff.

Sreesanth made the towel infamous as the piece of cloth was meant to the signal to the bookies. In the last two years, he stayed strong by not throwing in the towel and kept his faith. And like his reverse swing delivery for which he received praise from none other than captain MS Dhoni, Sreesanth has swung back when no one expected him to.

Perhaps he is right when he says, God is with him.