May 08, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 2, 1429

NEW DELHI, May 7: Banned from the lucrative Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament after slapping a rival player, ace spinner Harbhajan Singh faces further punishment from the Indian cricket board.

Board of Control for Cricket in India’s inquiry commissioner, Sudhir Nanavati said on Wednesday he was stunned by the video footage of last month’s incident in which Harbhajan slapped his national team-mate Shantakumaran Sreesanth, who was playing for the opposing team.

“What I saw was shocking,” Nanavati was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.

Nanavati, who will complete his inquiry on Monday, has summoned Harbhajan and Sreesanth to explain their conduct.

Charged for violating the players’ code of conduct, Harbhajan was banned from the rest of the tournament and fined his fee from the match in which the incident occurred.

Harbhajan will also lose a substantial part of his contract of $850,000 for the 46-day event.

Team coach Lalchand Rajput was fined 50 per cent of his match fee for not stopping Harbhajan’s attack, while Sreesanth was cautioned.

Nanavati said the cricket board may also take disciplinary action against Harbhajan, who is its contracted player.

“According to the Indian cricket board contract, he gets match fee for the whole year,” PTI quoted Nanavati as saying.

He said Harbhajan was being paid separately for playing in the Twenty20 tournament.

“If he is getting paid by both at the same time, he will be punished twice,” Nanavati said.

Earlier this year, Harbhajan was at the centre of controversy during the Test series in Australia. He was initially banned for three Tests for allegedly making racist remarks against Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds. An appeal was upheld and his punishment reduced to a fine.—AP