 Nanavati submits report on Harbhajan-Sreesanth slapping row
13th May 2008 19:00 IST
Agencies
Harbhajan slapped his national teammate Sreesanth at the conclusion of King's XI Punjab's Indian Premier League match against Mumbai Indians in Mohali on April 25.
Harbhajan, who was bought by Mukesh Ambani's franchise for a whopping Rs 3.40 crore during the landmark auction, was subsequently banned from the remainder of the IPL, apart from losing nearly Rs 3 crore of match fee.
Sreesanth, who was at the receiving end of Harbhajan's wrath, was also warned against aggressive on-field behaviour and told that his conduct would be taken seriously.
Mumbai Indians manager Lalchand Rajput was fined 50 per cent of the match fee for not stopping the off-spinner's attack on Sreesanth playing for Kings XI Punjab.
The BCCI, under whose jurisdiction IPL is being held, decided to conduct a separate probe into the incident by appointing Nanavati who viewed a video recording of the incident at Mumbai, summoned the warring players to Ahmedabad and conducted the probe.
Nanavati also considered statements by IPL match referee Farokh Engineer and umpire Amish Saheba while preparing his probe report.
Nanavati described the slapping incident as "shocking" after viewing the video recording of the sordid episode, one of the worst-ever in the history of Indian cricket, in the BCCI office in Mumbai last week.
After preparing the report, the probe commissioner said that he was under some pressure when going about his job, as it was a very sensitive issue.
"I was under tension, not because of the subject but because the issue I was investigating was very sensitive. So many eyes were on me. I can't afford to make any mistakes," he said yesterday.
"I was very cautious while drafting the report. I have written each and every word carefully and I can justify every sentence in the report," he had emphasised.
He heard both the players in Ahmedabad on Friday and was happy with the proceedings. |
