A few weeks back, Matt Hayden called Harbhajan Singh an “obnoxious little weed” and was reprimanded. They patched up in India where they are playing in the IPL tournament. There was another incident in Australia involving Harbhajan and Symonds.
Yesterday, Harbhajan was in a bad mood as Mumbai Indians lost the third IPL match in a row. It seems that Sreesanth who was part of the winning Punjab team said “hard luck”. We don’t know what exactly transpired but Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth and the latter was seen crying.
Harbhajan’s behavior is unacceptable. After reviewing the tapes, Harbhajan — who is captaining his team as Tendulkar is not fit — was suspended for today’s match against Hyderabad’s Deccan Chargers. Shaun Pollock was made the captain but the Mumbai Indians lost by 10 wickets. Adam Gilchrist of the Deccan Chargers hit the fastest (42 ball) century (10 sixes, 9 fours) to seal the victory with 8 overs to spare.
The slapping incident is being taken seriously: Harbhajan and Sreesanth are being summoned to Delhi. It appears that Harbhajan will be punished with a 10 match ban.
Tags: cricket
April 30th, 2008 at 1:31 am
I believe that both Bhajji and Sreesanth have repeatedly shown that they cannot control their emotions on the field. Their captains have not also been able to reign them in. The BCCI has not strongly advised them as yet. Time has come for some strong measures to be taken. I would recommend a 1 year ban on both players, although 1 year is eternity in modern cricket. It serves them well, because both have grown arrogant and have come to think that they can get away with their antics and bad behavior. They have become a laughing stock among other international players. They have also become an embarassment for the BCCI.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Bhajji has been fried — that slap has cost him over 2 crores, and he has been banned for 11 matches. He is out of the IPL. He may also be banned for some ODI and test matches. Sreesanth has been warned. It seems that an umpire also has been banned for 2 matches.