Apr 30 2008
Harbhajan Sreesanth row - stain to Indian Cricket!
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 Saheba, one of the on-field umpires during the match in Mohali has been withdrawn by the governing council of the Indian Premier League from his next two matches.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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