By OUR CORRESPONDENT
Mumbai, May 13: Sudhir Nanavati, who investigated the slapping row between Harbhajan Singh and S. Sreesanth, submitted a 14-page report to the Board of Control for Cricket in India here on Tuesday.
"I have come to submit my report to the BCCI. It’s a 14-page report. Whatever conclusion I intended to reach I have reached. It’s for the BCCI to take appropriate action now," Nanavati said before handing his report over to BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty.
The three-member disciplinary committee headed by BCCI president Sharad Pawar, president-elect Shashank Manohar and vice-president Chirayu Amin, will take further action on the Nanavati report.
Nanavati was given 15 days to complete his investigation by the BCCI. It has 10 pages of annexures, detailing the results of his investigation for the Board to proceed further on the matter.
It is still not known when the disciplinary committee will meet but there was widespread speculation that the temperamental spinner could be banned for five Tests or 10 ODIs or for a period of one year. It was also speculated that he could be relegated from category B to C in the players’ contract.
Shetty said the disciplinary committee would meet soon and its decision would be based on Nanavati’s report. Harbhajan, who was bought by Mukesh Ambani’s franchise for a whopping Rs 3.40 crore during the landmark auction, has already been banned from the remainder of the IPL, apart from losing nearly Rs 3 crore of his contract fee.
Sreesanth, who was at the receiving end of Harbhajan’s wrath, was also warned against aggressive on-field behaviour and told that his conduct would be taken seriously.
Mumbai Indians manager Lalchand Rajput was fined 50 per cent of the match fee for not stopping the off-spinner’s attack on Sreesanth playing for Kings XI Punjab.
The BCCI also slapped a showcause notice on Harbhajan for his behaviour before appointing Nanavati to probe the incident.
Harbhajan, along with Sreesanth, appeared for the disciplinary hearing before the BCCI-appointed Commissioner in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Nanavati said that in course of his investigation he also spoke to match referee Farokh Engineer and umpires Amish Saheba and Aleem Dar.
During the hearing, Harbhajan pleaded guilty, like he had done at the April 28 hearing before Engineer, and said the bowler had made a mistake but given a chance, he would make amends.