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Harbhajan Singh, who has been temporarily banned by the IPL organizers from slapping his Team India teammate Sreesanth, has appealed to the cricket board to give him ‘one final chance’ before taking disciplinary action against him.

The 27-year-old off-spinner has written his appeal in a fresh letter to the BCCI just two days ahead of the disciplinary hearing to be conducted by the Board-appointed Commissioner Sudhir Nanavati in Ahmedabad.

Harbhajan who has allegedly slapped Sreesanth on April 25, after the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and kings XI Punjab, admitted in the latter that he has apologized to Sreesanth after the incident in Mohali and was willing to do it again in public, as reported by a TV channel on Wednesday.

“Along with accepting my most sincere and heartfelt apologies over this incident, I would like to appeal to the BCCI’s sense of fair play and ask for one final chance before taking any disciplinary action against me over this incident” he said in the letter.

Although the IPL governing council has already penalized him, the BCCI will also punish him separately for the level 4 offence as per the ICC Players Code of Conduct. A level 4 offence may leads to a maximum punishment of a life ban or a minimum ban of five Tests or 10 ODIs.

BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said that Harbhajan has been writing a number of letters and it was not proper for him to divulge the contents.

“The inquiry is going on. We are waiting for the report,” Shah said.

Tags: BCCI, Bhajji, Cricket, Harbhajan Singh, Harbhajan Sreesanth, IPL, Sreesanth

While investigating the recent slapping row between Harbhajan Singh and S Sreesanth, BCCI-appointed Commissioner Sudhir Nanavati on Tuesday said that he was shocked after watching the video footage of the incident.

“What I saw was shocking but it has made my job easier. It will also help me in my further investigation,” he told reporters after viewing the footage of the incident at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai with IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi, Board Secretary Niranjan Shah and Joint Secretary M P Pandove.

The incident happened after an Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab on April 25 when after the defeate Harbhajan Singh allegedly slapped Sreesanth on the ground in frustration and left the player in tears.

Nanavati was asked by the board to probe the incident after Harbhajan was banned from the rest of the IPL by its disciplinary committee.

Nanavati took the statement of match referee Farookh Engineer and will also speak to Mumbai Indians coach Lalchand Rajput, who was allegedly standing behind Harbhajan when he slapped Sreesanth after the match.

The Ahmedabad lawyer will submit his inquiry report on the matter to Board President Sharad Pawar on Monday.

Umpire Amish Saheba, who was suspended for a match after criticizing Sreesanth’s behavior in an interview, had denied making any statement against Sreesanth when asked.

Nanavati is expecting to complete his investigation by Sunday and send the reports to the BCCI chief on Monday. Nanavati had also summoned Harbhajan and Sreesanth to Ahmedabad this weekend.

“I have summoned them. They have been told to come either on Friday or Saturday. Harbhajan will be coming on Friday. Sreesanth is yet to confirm a date,” he said on Monday.

Tags: Bhajji, Harbhajan, Harbhajan Singh, Mumbai, Slapping, Sree, Sreesanth

After the Harbhajan Sreesanth row, all are thinking about the Hummer plans of Harbhajan Singh. The legendary off spinner from India has announced to media that he was going to buy a Hummer, from the whopping Rs. 3.4 crore he had been paid to join the Mumbai Indians franchise at the IPL auction.

Harbhajan Singh has announced this after coming from Australia after winning the CB Tri-series.

Now after the row with Sreesanth he has been removed from IPL and this ban has cost him almost Rs 2.6 crore, so how will he going to purchase the Hummer, a tank like vehicle famous in US.

This incident has ignited the memory of the 1983 world cup final, in which India defeated West Indies and clinched the single world cup. In this match West Indies were so sure that they are going to win the match. Malcolm Marshall was so excited that just before the final was played, on June 25, he put a down payment on a BMW car. Rest of the story is buried under the history.

Tags: Bhajji, Cricket, Harbhajan, Harbhajan Singh, Harbhajan Sreesanth, IPL, Sreesanth

Harbhajan and Sreesanth row has added a new dirty scar to Indian Cricket history. Harbhajan Singh has been banned on Monday for the remainder of the current IPL season after Farokh Engineer, the match referee, found him guilty of slapping Sreesanth at the end of Mumbai Indians match against Kings XI Punjab on Friday, 25th April, 2008.

Cricket known for the gentleman’s play is no more left gentle. Harbhajan-Sreesanth case in IPL has assisted to loss all the respect of the Indian Cricket. The behavior of players was said to be terrible. The two are getting an image of aggressive and volatile players of India. If the two are on the field, there will be no surprise if anything unpredictable happens.

The two are always associated with controversies. Problems and trouble always run behind them to create cricket crisis. The behavior of both players had come under the scanner during the recent South Africa series in India, too when Harbhajan apologized to the South African batsman Ashwell Prince for abusing him during the third Test of the series in Kanpur last month.

Telling about his views on Sreesanth the South Africa coach Mickey Arthur said, “Sreesanth was just Sreesanth. Perhaps our players lost a lot of respect for him on the tour. He constantly abused AB de Villiers and it was very personal. But considering the general spirit in which the series was played, we didn’t feel strongly enough to complain.”

Arthur admitted that the behavior of Harbhajan and Sreesanth during the India series “was not great”. “When there are two such volatile players on the field, anything can happen,” Arthur said criticizing on the impulsive nature of the two players.

Recently the BCCI has also asked to give an explanation from umpire Amiesh Saheba for his remarks which he made to ‘Mumbai Mirror’. Saheba, one of the on-field umpires during the match in Mohali has been withdrawn by the governing council of the Indian Premier League from his next two matches.

He told the tabloid that he and his fellow umpire Aleem Dar had warned Sreesanth and he said that the fast bowler was “disliked in the Indian dressing room”. “Sreesanth was sledging Mumbai’s batsmen right from the start, “He was over the top throughout the match and was acting like a petulant schoolboy.

Saheba commented on irritable nature of Sreesanth and said “He is one of India’s main bowlers, and yet, he is not doing anything to get rid of that schoolboy image of his. His colleagues are not too happy with that.”

And now Harbhajan is paying a big loss for his mistake. The ban put on him is for 11 matches, including last Sunday’s game, extendable to 13 if Mumbai progress to the semi-final and final. He is fined 100% of his match fee for Friday’s game. He will now be paid only for the first two matches of the IPL.

However the assault was totally found unprovoked in the video tapes but Sreesanth was let off with a warning. Harbhajan has offered an apology and both were found embarrassed in front of the cameras after the hearing.

The incident gave a big jolt to Bhajji’s team. Sachin was out of the team because of his injury and after successive four loses, and now Harbhajan is also not there. The incident also gave trouble to the team’s coach. Video tapes revealed that Lalchand Rajput, the Mumbai Indians coach was right behind Harbhajan when the incident took place. He didn’t take any step to restrain him and has been fined 50% of his match fee.

Bhajji could also face further punishment from BCCI, which announced a separate probe into the incident and appointed lawyer Sudhir Nanavati to investigate the charges against Harbhajan, who is on its payroll as a centrally contracted player.

Within 15 days, Nanavati will submit his findings from which BCCI will decide on further action against the bowler. If he would be found guilty, he could be banned for life or five Test matches or 10 one-day internationals.

Although Sreesanth is the main bowler and Harbhajan is a good Indian spinner, the two should take care of their impulsive behavior. There is a need to learn from the past incidents and to remain cool and intellectual on the field.

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Tags: Bhajji, Cricket, Gopu, Harbhajan, Harbhajan Slapped, Indian Cricket, Slapped Sreesanth, Sree, Sreesanth

Mumbai Indians stand-in Captain Harbhajan Singh after being charged for alleged slapping S Sreesanth following an IPL match against Kings XI Punjab on Friday is temporarily suspended from the tournament till the inquiry goes on.

Harbhajan however apologized to Sreesanth in the dressing room after the incident. After the matter was downplayed by both, S Sreesanth gave a fresh statement telling that Harbhajan didn’t only slap him; it was more than a slap.

“Based on prima facie video evidence as seen and reviewed by the match adjudicator and referee Mr. Farokh Engineer from the tapes provided by Sony & TWI, a decision has been reached to suspend with immediate effect Harbhajan Singh of the Mumbai Indians pending the inquiry into the incident on Monday, April 28, 2008,” IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi said in a statement.

“The inquiry into the incident at Mohali in the game between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians will now take place at the Maurya Sheraton, New Delhi on April 28th 2008.”

“A final verdict would be announced by the adjudicator Farokh Engineer post hearing at New Delhi”, he said.

Both, Sreesanth and Harbhajan will be present while hearing.

Sreesanth’s team, Kings XI Punjab has lodged an official complaint with the BCCI, demanding action against Bhajji. In a complaint sent to the BCCI, the Punjab team members have expressed their disappointment over the matter.

Harbhajan is getting the image of ‘Bad Boy’ in the Indian Cricket after got involved in a sequence of controversies one by one. It will be on Monday when everyone will get to know that whether he will be allowed to play in further matches of IPL or will be suspended from the tournament.

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Tags: Bhajji, Harbhajan Singh, IPL, Mumbai Indians, Sreesanth

The situation for Indian team at Ahmadabad is really tough, India is playing the second test match of the future cup against South Africa at Ahmadabad. Today is the third day of play and India is on the verge of the inning defeat.

At the tea India is batting at 191 for the loss of 4 wickets and Ganguly is batting at 59 along with Dhoni who is batting at 28. India is still trailing by 227 runs and only 6 wickets are left.

Today early morning South Africa decided to declare their inning at their overnight score and they give India a target of 419 runs to save the match by an inning. Then Sehwag started brilliantly by hitting two sixes in the very first over of Steyn.

Within a very short time Sehwag became the victim of Ntini and India moved to 31 for the loss of one wicket. After that Dravid felt at 64 while he scored only 17 runs. Then Jaffer got out at 19 and India reached to 3 down for 70 only. After that Laxman and Ganguly played some good cricket but Laxman too fell cheaply at 35 while at that time India were 125 for the loss of 4 wickets.

From then Ganguly and Dhoni are playing and they have scored a partnership of 66 runs. For complete coverage please visit Cricket Updates.

Tags: Ahmadabad, BCCI, Bhajji, Cricket News, Dhoni, Dravid, Ganguly, Harbhajan, India, Ishant, Kumble, Laxman, Live Score, live update, Motera, News Live, South Africa, Team India, Test Match

Triple Century of blasting batsman Virendra Sehwag led India to beat the huge score of South Africa. Today on the fourth day of the first test match of Future cup Series, India scored a brilliant record of 627 runs, 87 points more than the rival team. Sehwag was dismissed by Ntini at a mammoth record of 319. he crossed his own score but unable to beat Lara’s record of 400 runs.

Dravid has achieved the milestone of 10,000 runs in test. Dravid also gave his century with 111 runs and was knocked out again by Ntini after lunch. He became the sixth player to tally 10,000 Test runs reaching the milestone in the first Test against South Africa. He is the third Indian player after Sachin and Sunil Gavaskar to achieve this target.

South Africa scored 540 runs in its first inning and India replied the rivals with 468 runs on second day at only one loss. South Africans seemed very helpless in front of the star batsman Sehwag. He gave the opponent team a hard nut to crack. Sehwag is the second player who achieved the milestone of making two triple centuries in test matches after Brain Lara.

Other players including Sachin Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dhoni couldn’t use their bats much. They all got dismissed one by one very soon. Dhoni gave only sixteen and Ganguly contributed 24. Sachin, Harbhajan and R P Singh were sent to pavilion without opening their account. Laxman gave 39 while the captain (Kumble) couldn’t achieve more than 3. Sreesanth was the last player with only 4 runs in hand.

In the second inning of South African team, the players have recorded 131 runs in 33 overs at the end of the day at one loss. Smith had made 35 runs and was knocked out soon. McKenzie and Amla are now the overnight players with 59 and 35 runs respectively.

Tags: BCCI, Bhajji, Chennai, Chepauk, Cricket News, Dhoni, Dravid, Ganguly, Golden Ball, Harbhajan, India, Ishant, Kumble, Laxman, Live Score, live update, News Live, Rain, South Africa, Symonds, Team India, Test Match

After scoring 304 runs at a lose of four wickets in the first test against India on March 26, opening batsman Neil McKenzie told that South Africa will be looking to add another 100-150 runs on Thursday to push for a possible win in the series.

McKenzie who contributed sparkling 94 runs was happy with the start of the team scoring huge inning score but conceded that a lot of cricket was left in the match. But he is confident of getting big score by the remaining quality batsmen of the team.

“Still a long way to go. We have no illusions. Once the wicket gets to wear down, it will be difficult to bat on. I think another 100 to 150 runs tomorrow will be a good total and anything above that will be a bonus,” McKenzie, who added 132 for the opening wicket with Captain Graeme Smith, said after the match.

“We have dependable batsmen in Mark Boucher and AB De Villiers. If one of them comes up with a good individual score, it should be enough to fight our way for a possible win.” He added.

McKenzie said that it was a challenge to face high class spinners like Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh but his previous experience of conditions in the sub-continent helped him to fight but was a little disappointed

“I had toured the sub-continent (before). It is all down to experience,” the opener said.

“Paul Harris is a quality spinner, maybe not to the standards of Kumble or Harbhajan. If the same level of bounce that was there this morning continued in the Indian innings, Nitini and Morkel can be penetrative and trouble Indian batsmen,” he said.

“RP Singh bowled well in Australia but the Indian seamers did not get assistance from the wicket here today, though they played well as a unit,” he added.

The docile nature of the pitch rendered India’s pace bowlers largely ineffective, McKenzie said.

Tags: BCCI, Bhajji, Chennai, Chepauk, Cricket News, Dhoni, Dravid, Ganguly, Golden Ball, Harbhajan, India, Ishant, Kumble, Laxman, Live Score, live update, News Live, Rain, South Africa, Symonds, Team India, Test Match

The 14 member team for the test matches going to start from March 26 against South Africa is announced today. Off spinner Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj are in while India’s new pace sensation Ishant Sharma and in-form batsman Gautam Gambhir are out.

Ishant Sharma Who has done wonderful job while the recent Australia tour have been overlooked for the matches because of his finger injury.

The team is announced by Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Niranjan Shah after the selection committee met in Bangalore on Monday afternoon.

Mumbai opener Wasim Jaffer was retained in the squad which has Virender Sehwag as the other specialist opener while in-form batsman Gambhir is not considered for the play.

Harbhajan Singh is among the specialist spinners in the team while R P Singh, S Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan make up the pace department.

Ishant will undergo a fitness test after the first Test, starting March 26, and if found fit will be considered for the last two matches, said Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India,

Murli Kartik who was picked up for the squad was ruled out later for 3 weeks as he got injured and dismissed for the first test match.

Wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh will undergo fitness tests March 21 in Bangalore.

“If they are found unfit, they will be replaced by wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla.”

The first Test will be played in Chennai from March 26 to 30 and the second Test in Ahmedabad from April 3 to 7.

The indian team is like this: Anil Kumble (captain), Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Rudra Pratap Singh, Vangipurappu Laxman, Murli Kartik, Yuvraj Singh, Wasim Jaffer and Virender Sehwag, Piyush Chawla (as cover for Harbhajan), Dinesh Kartik (stand-by for Dhoni)

Tags: Bhajji, Dhoni, Dravid, Gambhir, Ganguly, Harbhajan, India, Ishant, Kumble, Sachin, South Africa, Team India, Yuvraj

India won the first Tri-Series in Australia by defeating Australia in today’s historical second final match by 9 runs only. India beat Australia by 2-0 in the Commonwealth Bank (CB) series (watch live score card of the match).

Team India decided to bat first after winning the toss. Indian batsman set Australia a target of 259. Aussies done a wonderful fielding today and seemed in full energy trying their best to prevent the Indian team to score high but finally the victory tag is at the Indian team. (watch full coverage of the match).

India lost 2 wickets within 29 overs on 139 runs. Opener Robin Uthappa gave India its first shock. He was catch out by Hopes at Clarke’s ball with 30 runs only. On the same side Gautam Gabhir couldn’t show any significant performance. He could only manage to bat for 15 runs and was out by Clarke.

Ricky Ponting missed a catch by Tendulkar’s bat at the start of the game and it proved to be a good luck point for India. Sachin continued its probable last performance in Australia and outshone his excellent batting. Though he left very near to century, he gave a score of 91 runs and was once again a victim of nervous nineties. He was dismissed by Clarke.

Ishant Sharma being unfit to play after injury of his finger couldn’t play in the match. Sreesanth is replaced for him in last elevens. Piyush Chawla and Sreesanth were the last unbowled players to bat with 6 and 1 run respectively.

Harbhajan couldn’t make use of his bat and was out with only 3 runs. Yuvraj scored 38 and Dhoni gave 36 to the team.

Parveen kumar gave three consecutive rapid blows to Australian team in form of Gilchrist (2), Ponting (1) and Clarke (17). Aussies were under pressure that time. Later, Parveen also dismissed Lee. He is declared as the man of the match.

Hopes made highest score of 63 runs for Australia today. Hayden and Symonds contributed 55 and 42 runs. But the two could be the prey for Bhajji only. Both were sent back to pavilion by him. This way Bhajji again took his revenge. Sreesanth and Pathan took 2 wickets each.

This must be an historical win by India as India won in Australia after 23 years and its first series win in Brisbane.

Tags: Australia, Bhajji, Cricket, Dhoni, Harbhajan, Kumar, Praveen, Sachin, Team India