Finally, it would seem, nemesis has caught up with Harbhajan Singh. Thecontroversial spinner who finds himself in a fresh controversy -- for allegedly slapping S Sreesanth after an IPLmatch -- has been temporarily suspended from the tournament pending inquiry.
"Based on prima facie video evidence as seen and reviewed by the match adjudicator and referee Mr Farokh Engineer from the tapes provided by Sony & TWI, a decision has been reached to suspend with immediate effect Harbhajan Singh of the Mumbai Indians pending the inquiry into the incident on Monday, April 28, 2008," IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi said in a statement.
"The inquiry into the incident at Mohali in the game between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians will now take place at the Maurya Sheraton, New Delhi on April 28th 2008. A final verdict would be announced by the adjudicator Farokh Engineer post hearing at New Delhi", he said.
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Harbhajan was earlier slapped with a show-cause notice by the BCCI which gave him time till Monday to explain his conduct but bowing to media and public outrage, he was temporarily suspended till the disciplinary hearing before Farokh Engineer, who was the Match Referee in the tie between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians lateFriday, April 25, night.
The suspension means Harbhajan Singh, who is the stand-in captain for the Mumbai Indians, will not be able to play for the team against Deccan Chargerson April 27 in Mumbai.
Five Tests to 10 ODI Ban Possible
As per the ICC Code of Conduct, slapping a fellow player constitutes a level 4 offence and could lead to a life ban or a minimum ban of five Tests to 10 ODIs.
Meanwhile, Harbhajan's biggest relief must be that the International Cricket Council(ICC) has made it clear that it will not interfere in the latest row, saying it was for the BCCI to take appropriate action on the matter.According to them, since the Indian Premier League (IPL) is a domestic tournament organist by the BCCI,the latter is the supreme authority.
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BCCI President Sharad Pawar has said that he had told the IPL Chairman that if there was prima facie evidence of wrong-doing on the part of any player, the IPL should take immediate action against the player.Simultaneously, he said, the IPL should give opportunity to both the players by hearing them and then take a final view. The IPL Committee will take a separate decision on Monday, he added.
Farokh Engineer, in whose court the ball rests now, says that the inquiry would be conducted as per the ICC Code of Conduct and a decision will be taken in the interest of the game.Engineer said both the parties would be summoned and he would consider video evidence, if any, to find the truth.
"The inquiry date has been fixed for Monday, April 28, in New Delhi. We are not going to sweep things under the carpet. The complaint has to be carefully examined before any decision ismade. Everything possible will be done to adjudicate it immediately. The complaint made by the management of the Punjab team has been to referred to me by LalitModi, chief commissioner of the IPL for immediate adjudication under the ICC Code of conduct," Engineersaid, adding, "I have already started the process and will be summoning all concerned and will also seek any video evidence recorded by the host broadcaster namelyTWI."
'Hard Luck'
The immediate provocation for Harbhajan's action last night appears to be Sreesanth saying "hard luck" to the off spinner who was in a bad mood following the Mumbai team's third successive loss.
Though Harbhajan, who had only recently escaped unscathed from a searing racial abuse row with Australian all-rounder AndrewSymonds, and his victim Sreesanth who was seen crying inconsolably on the fieldafter the incident, tried to downplay the incident, the BCCI has sought his explanation by Monday.
The IPL has also asked the Match Referee and Adjudicator Engineer to hold an inquiry in Delhi on Monday when Singh would appear before him.
As the cricket world reacted with shock and condemned his behaviour, the Mumbai Indians brazenly announced late evening that Singh would captain tomorrow's match against Deccan Chargers in Mumbai in the absence of an unfit Sachin Tendulkar.
But shortly later, Modi's announcement came as a setback to the team which has already lost all the three matches in the tournament so far. In the morning, BCCI's Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shettyhad said: "At this point of time, we have issued a show cause notice. Harbhajan is a contracted player of BCCI. BCCI itself has a code of conduct for players. And BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah has issued a show cause notice and he has to respond by Monday."
"The Board's disciplinary committee will look into the issue and decide according to the rules of the BCCI," Shahhad said in a statement.
When Push Came To Shove
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Meanwhile, publicly, both Harbhajan and Sreesanth have tried to downplay the incident. The off-spinner said the issue has been "sorted out" and the pacermaintains that he has "no complaint" against the off-spinner, whom he regards as his "elder brother".
"It is up to the BCCI or IPL to look into this. I am focusing on the next game. Whatever has happened is part of the game. I regard him as my elder brother and have no complaints against him," Sreesanthhas maintained to all reporters.
Sreesanth spoke minutes after his team issued a media statement, saying no team member would speak on the issue as the BCCI was looking into the whole matter.The paceman, who plays for Kerala Ranji team, insisted there was no bad blood between him and Harbhajan "He has all the right for what he has done. No complaints," he had said.
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On being asked why he had cried after the match, he said, "I play my game with lot of passion. I put my life in it." He also added that since both of them share the same dressing room and haveplayed a lot of cricket together and will definitely play a lot of crickettogether in the future as well, he wanted to move on from the incident.Harbhajan, however, maintains that it was not a slap but that he had playfullypushed Sreesanth and that perhaps the latter got hurt. "If he has got hurt,I am sorry".
