Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

Just after the Rajasthan Royals match ended with Knight Riders, Shane Warne could not hold back his displeasure with Ganguly and his behavior on field. He said “Ganguly was not playing in the spirit of the game.”

“He took time to come out to bat in the middle. He made us wait in both innings and was running on his own time.”

Warne also criticized Ganguly’s decision to call for the third umpire after Graeme Smith claimed a catch in the deep that was later negated by the third umpire.

“He can’t ask for a third umpire after he’s given out. He should have accepted that catch was proper”.

“I told him, the game is not about you and your opinion. I was extremely disappointed with Ganguly,” Warne concluded.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Joy Bhattacharya defended Ganguly’s actions. ” Ganguly had every right to question the umpire’s decision,” he said. “As far as we’re concerned it’s a non-incident,” he further stated.

Sourav Ganguly hit back at Warne’s comments after the latter accused him of not playing in the right spirit.

“Warne should look at what he’s done all his life.”

“To claim a dropped catch is not in the spirit of the game. When the umpires aren’t saying anything, why is Warne?” he said.

“I’ve better things to do than sorting this issue with Warne.”

Smith lashes out

South African captain Graeme Smith also lashed out at Ganguly. “Sourav was a touch out of line in his behaviour,” he thought. “TV replays showed it was a clean catch, I felt it was clean. I know the rules, I know what is allowed and what is not” - he added.

We hope that this argument dies down as fast as it occurred and the spirit of Cricket wins in the end.

Harbhajan Singh is suspended by BCCI pending his explanation for slapping his Indian teammate S Sreesanth at the end of an IPL match at Mohali on Friday night and appears headed for a severe punishment which can be a minimum of a ban for five Test matches or 10 one-day internationals.

Harbhajan was earlier slapped with a show-cause notice by the BCCI which gave him time till Monday to explain his conduct but bowing to media and public outrage, he was temporarily suspended till the disciplinary hearing before Farokh Engineer, who was the Match Referee in the tie between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians.

The suspension means Harbhajan Singh, who is the stand-in captain for the Mumbai Indians, will not be able to play for the team against Deccan Chargers tomorrow in Mumbai.

Announcing the suspension, IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi said that based on prima facie video evidence as seen and reviewed by the match adjudicator and referee Farokh Engineer from the tapes provided by Sony & TWI, a decision has been reached to suspend with immediate effect Harbhajan Singh of the Mumbai Indians pending the inquiry into the incident on Monday, April 28, 2008.

“The inquiry into the incident at Mohali in the game between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians will now take place at the Maurya Sheraton, New Delhi on April 28th 2008. A final verdict would be announced by the adjudicator Farokh Engineer post hearing at New Delhi”, he said in a statement.

As per the ICC Code of Conduct, slapping a fellow player constitutes a level 4 offence and could lead to a life ban or a minimum ban of five Tests to 10 ODIs.

BCCI President Sharad Pawar said that he had told the IPL Chairman if there was prima facie evidence of wrong-doing on the part of any player, the IPL should take immediate action against the player.

Simaltaneously, he said, the IPL should give opportunity to both the players by hearing them and then take a final view. The IPL Committee will take a separate decision on Monday, he added.

The immediate provocation for Harbhajan’s action last night appears to be Sreesanth saying “hard luck” to the off spinner who was in a bad mood following the Mumbai team’s third successive loss.

Though Harbhajan, who had only recently escaped unscathed from a searing racial abuse row with Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, and his victim Sreesanth who cried bitterly on the field last night, tried to downplay the incident, the BCCI sought his explanation by Monday.

The IPL also asked the Match Referee and Adjudicator Engineer to hold an inquiry in Delhi on Monday when Singh would appear before him.

As the cricket world reacted with shock and condemned his behaviour, the Mumbai Indians brazenly announced late evening that Singh would captain tomorrow’s match against Deccan Chargers in Mumbai in the absence of an unfit Sachin Tendulkar.

But shortly later, Modi’s announcement came as a setback to the team which has already lost all the three matches in the tournament so far.