Harbhajan Singh was suspended 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.

Source:hindu.com

The most underestimated side in the Indian Premier League – Rajasthan Royals have done it again. In the 12 th match of the league, they first restricted Royal Challengers to a small target and then chased the target with atmost ease. Warne’s lead team was in control of the match from the toss stage and it never looked they could loose today’s match. First the bowlers did a splendid job and then the batsmen also played excellent cricket to assure the win. Watson scored 61 (n.o) and Smith scored 49 and these two innings were sufficient to finish the job and make them victorious.

The underdogs of the league have again proved that they are into some serious cricket and are up for the challenge in the upcoming days.

DLF- Maximum sixes award – Praveen Kumar and Taylor

Man of the Match – Shane Watson

Scorecard – Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Rajasthan Royals – 12th Match

Royal Challengers Bangalore lost the toss and then were asked to bat first. Wicket falling was a regular phenomenon starting from the very first over. Dravid got out for 0 and then Chanderpaul, Kallis, Kohli and others also fell cheaply. It was not the start which they had expected and it looked like half the battle is lost when they lost 7 wickets for 90 runs.Praveen Kumar played some good shots and Taylor and Praveen scored 44 and 34 respectively.The bowlers of Rajasthan Royals never let the batsmen score easy runs and were complemented well by the fielders. In the end it was a score of mere 136 to be chased by Rajasthan Royals to have a second straight win in the DLF – IPL.

Scorecard – Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Rajasthan Royals – 12th Match

Batting: Rajasthan Royals Innings

Bowling: Bangalore Royal Challengers

Batting: Bangalore Royal Challengers Innings

Bowling : Rajasthan Royals

The slap which Harbhajan Singh gave to Sreesanth lead to the temporary ban and the final decision is left to the match refree which will take the decision on Monday. The ban could be minimum for 10 matches to life ban. Harbhajan Singh is said to be consulting his lawyers but under no circumstances it could be justified as it is a case of physical assault. It is said that Sreesanth was the one who used foul language first and then Bhajji lost his temper and slapped him. Yesterday the whole nation was watching the match live on Max when suddenly the pictures of Sreesanth crying were telecasted which jolted the whole nation. He was crying like a child but no specific reason could be known. Later it came into news that bhajji had slapped him.

BCCI spokesman said that it will not be tolerated and it was upto match refree to decide what punishment is to be given for such an act.