Harbhajan escapes with minor punishment
Harbhajan singh escaped with a ban of only 11 league matches in the slapgate incident. Harbhajan had allegedly slapped Sreesanth after the match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab. It was also said that Sreesanth’s sledging antics against Robin Uthappa and Musavir Khote led to the incident. Allegedly Robin Uthappa had made a formal complaint about Sreesanth’s behaviour to Mumbai Indians captain Harbhajan Singh. then Sreesanth again jumped the line and gave Musavir Khote a piece of his mind. Sreesanth’s on field behavior irked Harbhajan and when they were shaking hands after the match, Harbhajan hit Sreesanth. During today’s questioning Harbhajan admitted to his mistake and asked to be pardoned. He said sorry to Sreesanth and pleaded guilty.
We are still waiting if there will be another seperate comittee to review this incident or not. According to the BCCI, they are going to look into this matter seperately. Harbhajan is free to challenge his decision in court.
In my opinion, I seriously doubt the timing of the incident. Was it a co-incidence that Mumbai indians had their next match against the Deccan Chargers who have Andrew Symonds in their team. Why did Harbhajan have to do this right before that match. Well we can only ponder on why it happened at all.
prashiyer