Bhajji On The Beach

In the end, it was pretty much a straightforward decision.

The slapping incident involving S. Sreesanth of Kings XI Punjaband Harbhajan Singh of Mumbai Indians resulted in Indian Premier League'sappointed adjudicator, Farokh Engineer, imposing aban on Harbhajan Singh for 11 IPL matches.

This ban effectively means that Harbhajan would be able to play in thecurrent tournament only if his team -- which has so far lost all its fourmatches so far -- somehow miraculously makes it to the semi-finals.

"After looking into the video footage in the presence of Sreesanth, complainant Neil Maxwell (Kings XI Punjab CEO), Harbhajan and LalchandRajput, (Mumbai Indians coach), and managers of both sides and considering the submissions from both sides and in view of Harbhajan's admission Match Referee Farokh Engineer found him guilty of level 4.2 offence," IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi said at a press conference at the conclusion of a two-hour hearing. The hearing was based on additional footage of the incident from one of the host broadcaster's 21 cameras at the match.

Harbhajan Singh was also slapped with a fine of 100 per cent match fees from the third match onwards.It would thus turn out to be one of the most expensive slaps ever as roughestimates put the sum that Harbhajan Singh stands to lose at around Rs threecrores.

It was not just Harbhajan Singh who had to pay for this slap. Lalchand Rajput,the coach of Mumbai Indians, was also found guilty of "breaching the spirit ofcricket" for not taking any step to stop Harbhajan from misbehaving,charged with a Level-2 offence and fined 50 per cent of the match fee. The video footage showed him walking just behind Harbhajan when the incidenttook place.

According to Mr Lalit Modi,Harbhajan Singh, as the losing captain of Mumbai Indians, had walked up to shake the hands of allthe individual members of Kings XI Punjab. But when he came to S. Sreenath, who was third in line,instead of shaking hands with him, he slapped him. Perhaps that's what Sreesanthhad called a shake-hand with a difference.

Did Sreesanth Get Away Easy?

There had been reports earlier that Sreesanth may also get a stiff penaltybecause of the provocation offered to Harbhajan. A view which had gainedcurrency after Indian ODI captain MS Dhoni's remarks that he hoped that the authoritieswould check the sequence of events rather than go by what television footage in the HarbhajanSingh-Sreesanth controversy.

Dhoni had sought to draw an analogy between the latest incident and theincident involving the last football world cup where Zinedine Zidane hadhead-butted Marco Matterazi, and suggested that that the act of provocation neededto be taken into account as well.

"What Zidane did was wrong, but Materazzi also was not completely in the right," Dhoniwrote in his column for a newspaper. "Harbhajan is a very aggressive cricketer who plays hard and is there for his team-mates whenever they need him. Even Sreesanth has seen this supportive side of Harbhajan in the Indian dressing room. Sreesanth is also a very aggressive cricketer who likes to express his highs and lows very passionately on the cricket field. Off the field, you will not meet a more soft-spoken guy thanSree."

Well, Sree has been let off with a warning that his "aggression on the field in future would be takenseriously". Whatever that means. BCCI’s Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shettyhad indicated what he personally thought of the whole fracas in these words: "I had written a letter to Sreesanth asking him to refrain from antics on the field in the name of aggression. I said that people like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Laxman are all aggressive but through their performance, not through cheapantics."

All's Well That Ends Well?

Cheap antics or not, Dhoni, another player known for his controlledaggression had tried putting it in perspective: "The incident ... was unfortunate because I know both of them, and they are not bad guys at all. Everybody is passing judgment based on what is reported in the newspapers, and I am too far from the scene to actually comment on it."

But comment he did. Adjudicator Farokh Engineer too sought to emphasise thefact that it was in everyone's interest to move on. It is significant thatHarbhajan had pleaded guilty as charged and had not sought to offer any defenceor justification for his action, something which may have gone in Sreesanth'sfavour. He also added, "I have no malice towards Sreesanth and whatever happened did not come from any ill intention." Now that is something that anybody who knows the two players would readily attest to. But, clearly, Harbhajan's history-sheet had grown too long to be ignored anymore, and he had to be made an example of.

While Farokh Engineer made Bhajji and Shree, as they are called, shake hands like two recalcitrantschool-boys, Harbhajan may yet have to pay a heavier price for this slap as hefaces the BCCI's disciplinary committee next. BCCI’s Shetty sounded ominouswhen he pointed out that Harbhajan's: "troubles are not over. He has a showcause notice pending against him with the BCCI and he has to answer to the BCCIindependently."

Harbhajan is reported to have replied to the show cause notice issued tohim."He has given his reply, but I cannot reveal its contents," BCCI secretary Niranjan Shahmaintains. BCCI, under whose jurisdiction IPL is being held, has already appointed Sudhir Nanavati of the Gujarat Cricket Association as the Commissioner to inquire into the matter and his findings are to be put before its disciplinary committee headed by president Sharad Pawar for deciding the further course of action.

As Shetty says, "The inquiry commissioner, Mr Nanavati, will look into the matter further. The thing is that unfortunately, Harbhajan Singh has a history of being aggressive. IPL is like any other domestic tournament and such things are not acceptable even in domestictournaments".

Reports suggest that many in the BCCI are keen to use this opportunity to laydown the law to the dissenting trouble-children and a ban of five to 10 ODIs isbeing talked about. Whichever way it goes, clearly, Harbhajan is going tohear the echoes of that thoughtless slap for some time to come yet. Whether itwould help the third-highest wicket-taker in Indian Test history to clean up hisact and act as a blessing in disguise for him, or whether it would deepen thefissures in the Indian dressing room, remains to be seen.

This incident has only added one more black-spot on Harbhajan's growinghistory-sheet:

1997-98: Fined 50 per cent of match fee and one-match suspension for abusing Ricky Pointing.
2001-02: Fined 75 per cent of match fee and one-match suspension fordissent at umpire's decision and attempting to intimidate him.
2002-03 Fined 50 per cent of match fee for using abusive and foul language against the umpire.
2008: Fined 50 per cent of match fees for using obscene language against AndrewSymonds.