Harbhajan's slap proves dear as IPL serves him 11-match ban
The ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) is living upto its hype of being a 44-day show of fun, excitement and drama (and of course, cricket) with the organizers 'slapping' India's ace spinner Harbhajan Singh with a 11-match ban and approx. Rs.3 crore fine following complaints by the Mohali team that Singh had, in a fit of anger, slapped its teammate S. Sreesanth.
On Friday, Sreesanth, bowling for Kings XI Punjab (Mohali team) irked rival team Mumbai Indians' (Mumbai team) stand-in captain Harbhajan Singh by refusing to be cowered down and showed his trademark aggression during the match even though Singh, prior to the match, requested him to cool down. Following the match, which was won by the Mohali team by 66 runs, a peeved Harbhajan had reportedly walked upto Sreesanth and floored him with a hard slap.
According to Sreesanth's teammates, Harbhajan also used the "F-word" before storming off and leaving Sreesanth in tears.
Controversy's love child Harbhajan Singh, who was embroiled in the racial slur drama in the recent Australian tour, again found himself in hot water when the Mohali team complained against him to Indian cricket's governing body BCCI and IPL.
Singh, who got away lightly in Australia, was not so lucky this time, as both BCCI and IPL took the matter seriously and issued him a show cause notice as to why any disciplinary action should not be taken against him.
In the meanwhile, Sreesanth, putting on a brave face and camaraderie, said, "Everything is normal, there is nothing between us. Nothing serious happened. It is all in the game. I am fine. We will still be part of the national team."
Harbhajan too attempted to play down the controversy, saying, "A lot of things happen in a family. We are part of one family. I think a lot of things which are coming out in the media. Whatever have happened we have sorted out all. Everything is fine now."
"I didn't slap Sreesanth. The media is blowing the issue out of proportion. Everything has been sorted out between us. He is like a younger brother to me and I have spoken to him after the match was over last night (Friday)," Harbhajan said.
But Sreesanth's teammate Yuvraj Singh and coach Tom Moody were in no mood to forgive Harbhajan.
"This is really an ugly incident. You do not want to see such things off the field specially after such a win. I am pretty upset at what has happened. This is totally unacceptable," Yuvraj Singh, captain of Mohali team, said in a post-match conference on Friday.
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