Mumbai Indians Launch Official Complaint Against Suresh Shastri!

The Mumbai Indians management has launched an official complaint against the third umpire Suresh Shastri. The complaint was over two dubious decisions given by him during the match against Kings XI Punjab, in which Mumbai Indian lost by one run.

Sachin expressed dissatisfaction on the poor umpiring decisions and said that those two runs would have saved his team.

The loss against Kings XI Punjab has made Mumbai's chances of entering semi-finals difficult. They have to win their remaining matches or wait for other teams--Delhi Daredvils an Chennai Super Kings to lose their matches.

The first incident was the run out of Luke Pomersbach of Kings XI Punjab. Shaun Pollock's throw from deep extra cover appeared to have hit the stumps directly with the batsman short of his crease. Since the TV replays were not conclusive, the umpire went in favor of the batsman. The batsman was on 21 then and finally scored 79.

The second incident was the run out of Smith. Smith was struggling to reach his crease while the bowler Piyush Chawla appeared to have knocked the bail with hims arm keeping the ball in the hand. Once again the TV replays were not helping.

The coach of Mumbai Indians Lalchand Rajput confirmed that the franchise owners have filed an official complaint.

Tendulkar said, "the whole world has watched what it was all about. Everyone has seen what happened and in whose favour the decisions eventually went. Had we got those two run-out decisions our way, we would have added two more runs to the tally and won the match."

Shastri, however, defended his decisions, saying he went by the law. "I don't want to make any comments. I can only say I went by law 28.1 (The wicket is down)." The law states that a dismissal is made if a bail is completely removed from the top of the stumps, or a stump is struck out of the ground by (i) the ball, (ii) the striker's bat, whether he is holding it or has let go of it, (iii) the striker's person or by any part of his clothing or equipment becoming detached from his person, (iv) a fielder, with his hand or arm, providing that the ball is held in the hand or hands so used, or in the hand of the arm so used.

Harbhajan Deserves it: Ponting

Ponting has said that he does not feel sorry for Harbhajan. He said, what he is going through, he deserves it.

He has slapped a player with him he has played 20 test matches. Look at his behavior and everyone knows what he has done.

He said, he will not support Harbhajan and did not feel sorry that he was banned in IPL and also going through a tough time in BCCI inquiry.

He can be banned for life or 5 test matches. Nanavathi completed his inquiry today and is expected to submit his report on Monday, May 12, 2008

Sudhir Nanavathi Sees Video Clipping!

Sudhir Nanavathy, appointed by BCCI for doing a complete enquiry into the slagate incident involving Harbhajan and Sreesanth.

In the match played betwen Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians in Mohali on April 25, Kings XI beat Mumbai Indians. After the victory, TV cameras captured live pictures of Sreesanth crying in the ground. The preliminary inquiry revealed that he was slapped by Harbhajan.

Though Harbhajan and Sreesanth denied the slapping and downplayed the event, the IPL took the issue seriously and asked match referee Farooq Engineer to do an investigation and submit findings. Before the investigation, both of them said, they are like brothers, and in fact Sreesanth said, "he has the right to do what he did." What a comment?

It was said that the incident was officially reported by Kings XI Punjab.

Before the investigation, Bhajji sent a letter to BCCI explaining that he is guilty and wanted to be pardoned.

During the investigation by match referee Farooq Engineer, he pleaded guilty of slapping Sreesanth. This made his job easy and submitted the report to the chairman and chief officer of IPL, Lalit Modi.

Lalit Modi slapped a 11-match ban in IPL and also fined him 100% of his match fee. This meant, he cannot play in the IPL anymore for this season and has to lose 3-crores of his contract money that he would have otherwise earned.

Since IPL is part of the BCCI, Sudhir Nanavathi was appointed by BCCI to do a complete inquiry and if he is found guilty, he could face a life ban or 5 test matches ban or a 11 one day ban.

Sudhir Nanavathi saw the TV footage and said that he was surprised and shocked to see the incident. There was no provacation captured in the video. Next is the meeting with both the players and if required interviewing few players.

Harbhajan's Ban costs him 3 crores of Indian Rupees

Harbhajan Singh was banned for remaining of the IPL matches and also fined 100% match fee for the match against Kings XI Punjab. He slapped Sreesanth after the Mumbai Indians loss to Kings XI Punjab. The TV cameras captured live pictures of Sreesanth who was uncontrollably crying.

The match referee inquired the incident where Bhajji pleaded guilty and apologized for his behavior. Despite his apology and both Sreesanth and Harbhajan down playing the incident, match referee Farooq Engineer slapped him by imposing a ban on Harbhajan for 11 IPL matches.

This meant, he cannot represent Mumbai Indians in this version of IPL and hence he lost all the money that he was supposed to earn by playing these matches. It was estimated that the loss for Bhajji would be Rupees 3 crores.

A SLAP THAT COSTS 3 CRORERS! A COSTLY SLAP!

Probably, he can earn the money by playing for India in the future, but the reputation that he has lost, will be hard to win again!

Harbhajan Slapped with 11 match Ban!

The match referre's inquiry into the slapping incident by Harbhajan has come to an end. Bhajji has pleaded guilty on the charges levied against him and match referee has slapped him back with 11 match IPL ban. Which means, he cannot play the remaining matches.

Though it is an enquiry by IPL match referee, BCCI will set up its own enquiry into the matter. It will completely dig out what happened on and off the field.

In addition to the 11 match ban, he has been fined 100% of his match fee. Lalchand Rajput has been fined 50% of his match fee for not controlling Harbhajan.

We have to see how Mumbai Indians are going to plan for the remaining games. Can Sachin come back in time to save them?

Harbhajan pleads guilty!

In today's hearing with the match referee Farooq Engineer, Harbhajan pleaded guilty of slapping Sreesanth.

The decision is not yet out but Bhajji has accepted the mistake and said that he felt sorry for what had happened.

Harbhajan to get fair trial!

The match referee Farooq Engineer said that he would give a fair trial to Harbhajan Singh. He said, nothing will go under the carpet. He will be given a chance to explain his side of the story.

All the evidences will be seen and both the parties will be heard before a decision is taken. IPL is a good success and it has earned a good reputation which should not be spoiled by these bad behaviour.

He said, nothing will be put under the carpet. Everything will be openly discussed and whatever needs to be given to the public, those will be released.

Harbhajan has been assured that he will be given a fair chance to explain his stand! Good luck!

Mumbai played without Harbhajan and Sachin!

Mumbai Indians have already lost all of their 3 matches in the IPL. In all the matches, Sachin did not play and Harbhajan Singh was leading the side.

It was a crucial encounter for Mumbai Indians when they take on Deccan Chargers on Sunday at 8 PM IST. They were eagerly waiting for opening their winning account.

But, to everyone surprise, Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth after their defeat against Kings XI Punjab lead by Yuvaraj Singh. It was their 3rd continous loss and sure that everyone was disappointed.

No one is clear on why he did that? Sure that he won't do it without any provacation from Sreesanth, but regardless of what he said, he should not have slapped him, if he did that. Only Sreesanth knows what he said until he comes out public!

With the proof from the offical broadcaster Sony, BCCI has suspended Bhajji from Mumbai Indians next match against Deccan Chargers. Sachin is not yet ready for playing Cricket and with Harbhajan also not playable due to the suspension, it would be difficult for Mumbai Indians! Sure their morale would be low! Can they pull out of this problem? Well, wait and see!

Harbhajan's hearing today!

The match referee Farooq Engineer will hear both sides of story today and take a decision on the incident. As the cricketing world knows, Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth after the match. Not knowing the reason why he did it, BCCI, based on the video footage provided by the offical broadcaster Sony, suspended Bhajjai for the Sunday match against Deccan Chargers.

Sreesanth cried uncontrollably after the match which was captured live by the televison channel broadcasting the match. Not knowing why he was crying, the entire crowd watching the match live in stadium and tv were stunned.

Later, the news channels flashd the news saying Sreesanth was slapped by Harbhajan.

We have to wait and see the decision to be taken by Farooq Engineer!

Harbhajan and Sree downplay the event fearing Punishment!

After the slapgate incident between Harbhajan and Sreesanth, match referee Farooq Engineer was asked to conduct the enquiry. Before that, both Harabhajan and Sreesanth downplayed the incident as if nothing had happened between them.

Sreesanth said:

Bhajji and him are like brothers; He is an elder brother and I have forgiven him;
He has the right to do what he did;
It was just a handshake in the wrong side
He need not apologize

Bhajji said:

He is like a brother;
He did not slap him;
They both will play together;
He spoke to Sreesanth after the match;
He is not sure about the complaint to be lodged by Kings XI Punjab!

After the scene and hype created by both the players and media, both of them were saying, everything is okay and nothing wrong happened. Looks like both of them fear about the action that would be taken against each of them. Something should have provoked Bhajji and hence both would be punished. Is that reason for going back on the statements?

Only official enquiry can reveal what has happened!

Harbhajan Suspended for until Hearing!

A BCCI press release has just landed: "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 Mr. Harbhajan Singh of the Mumbai Indians pending the inquiry into the incident on Monday, April 28th 2008"

After the match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab, the televsion camera captured the live pictures of Sreesanth crying uncontrollably. He was bursting tears from emotion and Kings XI Punjba team members helped him to calm down. No one knew what had happened, but later the news channels flashed the news saying "Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth"

Both the players denied the incident during a quick invidiual interview. They both said they are brothers and a full stop can be put to the incident. Sreesanth does not want to complain, but his team was not ready to do that. They have launched the complaint.



The IPL is tournament of BCCI and hence BCCI has the right to investigate it and punish the players, if required. The official broadcaster Sony TV has captured the incident and based on that, suspension has been forced on Harbhajan. This means, he will not play the match against Deccan Chargers, which is a crucial tie, considering both the teams are trying to open their winning account.

During the post match interview, the captain of Kings XI described the incident as "ugly."

Harbhajan has been given time till Monday to respond to the notice issued by BCCI.

Bhajji Slapped Sreesanth?

The recent controversy in the recently started IPL and the cricketing world is the clash between Harbhajan and Sreesnath. After the match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab, which was on by the latter, the TV screesn captured live pictures of Sreesanth crying.

The commentators describing it as "uncontrollable tears. What's wrong with Sreesanth? Is it the win? It looks like something more than the win."

Later, the private news channels flashed the news saying "Bhajji slapped Sreesanth" Though there were no direct evidence shown by these channels, they repeatedly published the news and increased the tempo and attraction in the incident.

In the post-match interview, Bhajji, very arrogantly replied "I'm here to talk Cricket" You're in the ground to play cricket--which means, bowl, or hit the ball with the bat, or field. You're not in the ground to hit somebody, Mr. BHAJJI!

Later in the interview to private channel, Harbhajan said:

he pushed Sreesanth, but did not slap him.
He is like a brother
They will play together in the future;

He is not sure about the complaint to be launched by Kings XI Punjab

Sreesnath said:

He did not slap me;
He burst hit because he was running fever in the morning, an important match, and the incident in the end, everything triggered his emotions.
Bhajji is like an elder brother and he has the right to do what he did
He need not apologize
No need to file an official complain
They will play together

We have to wait and see what actions will be taken against Bhajji and Sreesanth, if at all action is taken!