Harbhajan hit with ban

Harbhajan Singh is unlikely to feature in the remainder of this year's IPL © Getty Images

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Harbhajan Singh has been handed an 11-match ban and fined all his match fee following his clash with Sri Sreesanth after the Indian Premier League encounter between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab.

The spinner was found guilty of a Level 4.2 offence under the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct after television pictures appeared to show Harbhajan slapping his India team-mate following Punjab’s 66-run victory.

The suspension will likely see Harbhajan miss the remainder of the inaugural IPL campaign. He would only return should Mumbai reach the semi-finals.

Harbhajan pleaded guilty and expressed regret over the incident during a 45-minute hearing on Monday, chaired by match referee Farokh Engineer.

The 27-year-old, who captained Mumbai in Friday’s encounter in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, is likely to face a separate inquiry from the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

The BCCI has appointed Sudhir Nanavati to head up a preliminary inquiry into the incident between two national team players.

Mumbai Indians coach Lalchand Rajput was fined 50 per cent of his match fee after being found guilty of a Level 2 offence at the same hearing.

"Rajput did not do enough to stop the incident,” said IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. "Rajput was right behind Harbhajan when the incident took place. He didn't take any step to restrain him.”

Sreesanth, meanwhile, was handed a warning for his part in the altercation.