BCCI may ban Bhajji for a year

NEWDELHI/AHMEDABAD: The BCCI is angry over Harbhajan Singh's onfieldindiscretion and board sources said that the Nanavati probe is expected tosettle whether Bhajji had been provoked by Sreesanth. At the hearing on Friday,Singh did not deny slapping Sreesanth but said that he had been needled. Thespinner apologized and when asked how he could have hit a team-mate said itwould never happen again.

"It is Nanavati's report that will decidehis fate. It really doesn't matter if he was provoked or not. What he did waswrong and deserves punishment," said a top BCCI official.

While thereis a view that Bhajji had been delivered a sufficiently hard rap on theknuckles, officials said that it would not be easy to ignore physical assault.If Nanavati fails to find any ameliorating circumstance, BCCI chief Sharad Pawarwill have to take a final view.

It is clear that the loss of IPL feesdoes not mean that BCCI cannot impose a punishment. The setting up of an inquirymakes that evident and apprehending trouble, Harbhajan has been pleading that heshould be given one more chance. He has told BCCI officials that losing "acouple of crores" was punishment enough. "How much more do you want to punishme" is apparently what he is asking?

The spinner is not completelyisolated though. Sachin Tendulkar is still weighing in for him as he did whenSingh was in the middle of a row over charges of racist abuse inAustralia.

While having Sachin as a guardian angel will helpHarbhajan, BCCI sources point out that the spinner has triggered a controversytoo soon after his problems in Australia. Though the spinner had not beencompletely blameless in his showdown with Aussie powerhouse Andrew Symonds, BCCIused its clout once the team rallied around Singh.

The board hardlyanticipated that Bhajji would fly off the handle with his own team-mate. Notonly has the incident knocked a hole in the argument that the temperamentalspinner had been cleverly "set up" by the Aussies, ICC was also watching how theboard would handle the episode. The international body expects BCCI wouldrespond firmly to what it sees as a gross act ofindiscipline.

Nanavati, speaking after the hearings, maintained thatwhatever he saw on the video footage was indeed shocking. "So it was importantto hear the two persons involved in the incident to get to the bottom of thetruth," he said.
-ipl.timesofindia.com

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