If only Harbhajan Singh had given Sri Sreesanth a firm handshake rather than a slap across the face after an Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Friday, he would have been £375,000 better off. That is how much the India off spinner will lose after being banned yesterday for the remainder of the tournament.

Harbhajan was handed a variable ban of 11 or 13 IPL matches after a hearing yesterday, which ensures that he will miss the whole tournament, regardless of what progress Mumbai Indians, his team, make. The ban, against which Harbhajan will not appeal, includes the match on Sunday that he sat out, Mumbai's ten remaining league fixtures and the semi-finals and final, if they get that far.

Although Harbhajan and Sreesanth were on opposing teams in the match between Mumbai and Kings XI Punjab, in Mohali, on Friday, they are international team-mates and the post-match altercation has caused considerable embarrassment to the Indian cricket board, which may yet discipline either or both players under the ICC code of conduct.

The events as recounted by Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, sound almost farcical. The match had ended in a 66-run win for Punjab, continuing Mumbai's three-match losing streak under Harbhajan's captaincy. “The footage showed that Harbhajan went down the line, shaking hands with a few players,” Modi said. “Sreesanth was the third player that he met. Instead of shaking his hand, he actually slapped him and continued down the line, shaking hands with the other players.” Sreesanth was given a warning but not punished after video evidence showed no provocation.

Harbhajan, who was bought by Mumbai in February for £425,000, was fined his entire fee for Friday's match and will lose about £375,000 as a result of the ban. However, he is on a three-year contract with Mumbai and stands to earn almost £1million over the term, assuming no more setbacks.

— Andre Nel, the South Africa and Essex fast bowler, has received six penalty points from the ECB after twice breaching the code of conduct in Essex's match against Derbyshire last week. Nel argued with Steve Stubbings and then threw the ball at the batsman. Should he receive another three points in the next two years, Nel will be automatically suspended.

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