April 30, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 23, 1429

NEW DELHI, April 29: The Indian Premier League management appears to be extremely serious about not allowing the controversy involving Harbhajan Singh and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth to escalate any further.

Umpire Amish Saheba, who was quoted in a regional newspaper as saying that Sreesanth was provoking Mumbai Indian players during the match has been sent a notice to explain his comments.

Saheba has been given 48 hours to reply to that notice and faces a two-match suspension.

Saheba, who was officiated the game, had said that Sreesanth had commented on the other players in the opposition team and the senior umpire on the field, Aleem Dar, had also been informed about the incident.

He went on to claim that the bowler was warned twice during the game. He also said that he was not asked by match referee Farokh Engineer to testify in the case.

The decision of the panel concluded that the attack from Harbhajan was ‘unprovoked’.

—Agencies