Agencies
New Delhi, Apr 28:
Wielding the axe, the IPL on Monday banned temperamental spinner Harbhajan Singh for the rest of the Twenty20 tournament for slapping S Sreesanth after he pleaded guilty, a punishment that will cost him a whopping Rs three crores.
The 27-year-old player, who has a notorious reputation for on-field skirmishes, was handed down the punishment under which he would forfeit match fees from the third match onwards by Match Referee and adjudicator Farokh Engineer after a two-hour hearing.
Sreesanth, who was at the receiving end of Harbhajan's temper after Friday's IPL match in Mohali, was also warned against aggressive on-field behaviour and told that his conduct would be taken seriously, IPL Commissioner and Chairman Lalit Modi told a press conference after the hearing in the presence of Engineer and the two players.
The punishment for the off-spinner came on a day the BCCI appointed a Commissioner to go into his fracas with Sreesanth in a separate disciplinary hearing ordered by it.
"After looking into the video footage in the presence of Sreesanth, complainant Neil Maxwell (Kings XI Punjab CEO), Harbhajan and Lalchand Rajput, (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.
"Accordingly, he (Harbhajan) has been banned for the rest of the IPL matches besides 100 per cent fine on his match fees," Modi said.
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