BCCI may not spare the rod on Bhajji
Still fuming over Harbhajan Singh`s repeated on-field acts of imprudence, it is believed that the BCCI has made up its mind to come hard on Bhajji. Shocked at the off-spinner assault of his own team-mate, it is expected that the board would respond firmly to what it sees as a gross act of indiscipline.
BCCI top brass is upset because not only has the incident knocked a hole in the argument that the temperamental spinner had been cleverly ‘set up’ by the Aussies, but this time around, even the ICC is watching how the board handles the episode.
While there is a view that Bhajji had been delivered a sufficiently hard rap on the knuckles, board officials said that it would not be easy to ignore physical assault. If Nanavati fails to find any ameliorating circumstance, BCCI chief Sharad Pawar will have to take a final view.
Nanavati probe is expected to settle on Monday 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. The spinner apologized and when asked how he could have hit a team-mate said it would never happen again.
"It is Nanavati`s report that will decide his fate. It really doesn`t matter if he was provoked or not. What he did was wrong and deserves punishment," said a top BCCI official.
Nanawati satisfied with duo’s statements
Nanavati, speaking after the hearings, maintained that whatever he saw on the video footage was indeed shocking. "So it was important to hear the two persons involved in the incident to get to the bottom of the truth," he said.
Sreesanth also appeared before the commissioner. After hearing them separately, Nanavati said he was satisfied with their statements.
“All the proceeding of the investigation is over and now I don’t need to talk to any player or official in this case. I’m satisfied with the answers of both their statements. I’ve all the evidence that I need to prepare the report,” Nanavati said after the hearing.
He said both players were very supportive and cooperating during the proceeding.
“I talked to Harbhajan for an hour and 15 minutes and chatted with Sreesanth for 30 minutes. They were quite friendly.”
Harbhajan had slapped the Kerala pacer after a Mumbai Indians versus Kings XI Punjab match of the ongoing Indian Premier League on April 25.
Asked whether Sreesanth had really provoked Harbhajan, Nanavati refused to divulged anything.
“I will write everything in my report.”
The BCCI disciplinary committee comprises of Pawar, Shashank Manohar and Chirayu Amin as members.
Even though Harbhajan Singh has pleaded guilty and begged for “one last chance”, sources said the BCCI is in no mood to relent and intends to set precedence.
