Harbhajan slapped with a ban

Dubai: Harbhajan Singh has been slapped with a 11-match ban for slapping Shantakumaran Sreesanth. Thus, he will virtually be out of action from the first edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) unless Mumbai Indians reach the semifinals.

Harbhajan has also been fined 100 per cent of his match fee. Lalit Modi, commissioner of the IPL, revealed that he will be paid only for the first two matches and will have to forfeit all his fees from the third game onwards. Indeed a costly price to pay for an instinctive act of immaturity.

Harbhajan also faces a separate action from the board. The BCCI has appointed lawyer Sudhir Nanavati to conduct a preliminary inquiry and submit a report in 15 days.

If found guilty, he could be banned for life or five Test matches or 10 one-day Internationals.

Meanwhile, Sreesanth was let off with a warning. Although it has been found that Sreesanth did not provoke Harbhajan, the warning is based on his growing habit of provoking his opponents.

Strangely, Lalchand Rajput, the coach of the Mumbai Indians team, has been fined 50 per cent of his match fee for making no effort to stop Harbhajan's misconduct.

No comments

When Gulf News contacted Rajput, he refused to comment on the judgement. This verdict makes one wonder whether, in future, coaches will have to learn how to stop fights without getting injured themselves.

The BCCI has got a footage of the incident, and according to information Harbhajan virtually bashed up Sreesanth with no one able to stop him.

After announcing the verdict, match referee Farookh Engineer tried to soften the incident by getting both Harbhajan and Sreesanth to shake hands and embrace like old friends.

Harbhajan even read out: "All I want to say is that whatever happened and whatever I did was grossly wrong. Sreesanth is like my brother. We have played together and we will play together.

"I got punished for whatever I did, but the Board has always treated me like its child and I hope they continue to support me."

As Harbhajan rightly stated, the board did treat him like a child and not like an adult; and therein lies the mistake. He has always been a problem child right from the day he tore the menu card at the National Cricket Academy and was thrown out.

This incident might also put an end to Sreesanth's ugly aggressive expressions. It is high time these cricketers take lessons from Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and the likes on how to earn respect.

Emotions are one of the most uncontrollable things in the world especially ANGER. An angry person can do unbelievable act even. But such attitude should not be tolerated. Being an athlete in every part of the world is an Icon. To be qualified must be able to control emotions. He deserves disciplinary action.
Shirly
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 28, 2008, 18:33

Both Harbajan and Sreesanth are similar in nature of aggressiveness and hence both of them deserve legal action. In my opinion, the action would have been taken earlier against both.
Abdulbasheer
Jebel Ali,UAE
Posted: April 28, 2008, 16:51

Singh has certainly crossed the boundary more than once, and it was paramount that he be reined in at home, before creating any further controversy abroad.
Sumita
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 28, 2008, 16:26

Its a great move by IPL to ban harbajan from rest of the games. I request BCCI to abide some rules and regulations to the players.
Shaniz
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 28, 2008, 15:56