Harbhajan Singh banned for 11 IPL matches

[rameshxavier]

Harbhajan Singh has been found guilty of slapping S Sreesanth at the end of Kings XI Punjab’s match against Mumbai Indians on last Friday at Mohali. Harbhajan Singh has been banned for 11 IPL matches, which include also Sunday’s match against the Deccan Chargers. The ban for him means that he will not be able to play for rest of the matches unless Mumbai qualify in the Semi Finals of the tournament, which is looking so unlikely at this point. Apart from that the turbanator would be fined all of his match fees from the tournament, told Mr. Lalit Modi, Indian Premier League Commissioner, at a news conference.

The hearing started at 1 pm and lasted for 1:30 hours. Lalit Modi and Farukh Engineer heard to both parties i.e. Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth, and decided against Harbhajan Singh for his unprovoked actions. While Harbhajan Singh went together with Lalchand Rajput and Harsha Bhogle, Sreesanth was accompanied by Yuvraj Singh and Maxwell.

Lalit Modi didn’t talk much about the incident and answered the questions related to the decision only. He explained that the off-spinner was charged with the violation of a level 4 offence of the ICC player code of conduct. It's a charge that carries it with a ban ranging from ten matches to life.

Besides, BCCI have also appointed Justice Nanavati to investigate into the matter and he has to submit his report within 15 days. Only after getting the report, BCCI will make a decision on the matter. There are chances that Harbhajan won’t get punishment more severe than this one as he admitted his mistake publicly and promised not to repeat in the future.

The incident happened shortly after the Mumbai team led by Harbhajan lost to Mohali when he, instead of shaking hands, slapped Sreesanth and proceeded. Although television cameras failed to capture the incident, opposition bowler Sreesanth was seen sobbing before everyone in the middle.