Meet Team India's new speedster

Did he expect to get selected to the national squad? "I knew I had a good chance to get into the national team when I got chosen for the Challenger [Trophy]. I just had faith in myself, and I worked hard and hard," he says.

He took a total of seven wickets in the Challenger Trophy for India B, and bagged the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman and Mohammed Kaif in the league phase.

In the final, he took three wickets for 32 runs, which included those of top scorer Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan and Y Venugopala Rao.

For a state where athletes and football stars have always won more adulation than cricketers, the national recognition for the baby-faced, bespectacled 22-year-old Sreesanth has made him a hero over night.

Sreesanth also becomes the third Keralite after Abey Kuruvilla and Tinu Yohanan to be selected to the Indian team.

Sreesanth's newfound fame has also made him some advertisers' delight. Already, a number of companies have come forward with advertising proposals. The first offer came from the Indian subsidiary of the Korean white goods giant Daewoo.

But Sreesanth has said no to all the advertisers. "My only aim now is to play hard and play well."