Harbhajan's day of reckoning on Monday

NEW DELHI: With Match Referee Farokh Engineer pledging that "We are not going to sweep things under the carpet", temperamental off-spinner Harbhajan Singh will have his day of reckoning on Monday when he appears at a disciplinary hearing to explain his slapping Indian team-mate S Sreesanth, an offence for which he could get a minimum punishment of a suspension for five Test or 10 ODI matches. Harbhajan, who slapped Sreesanth at the end of the Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Mohali on Friday, would appear before Engineer, former India wicket-keeper, at 1pm here and has already been suspended on the basis of the video footage of the incident. He has been served a show cause notice and asked to explain his behaviour. "From the Mumbai Indians, (coach) Lalchand Rajput will be specifically present at the hearing as asked by the adjudicator. Harbhajan Singh, his vice captain and team manager will also be present," the organisers said in a statement. "From the King's XI Punjab - complainant Neil Maxwell, Yuvraj Singh the captain and S Sreesanth will be present." Both the side can also bring in other witnesses, if they wish, the statement read. IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi will also be present on the occasion. Although Harbhajan is facing a very serious charge, behind-the-scene efforts are being made to ensure that he gets as light a punishment as possible. Those involved in such efforts take the line that the off-spinner was "provoked" and that Sreesanth himself was no stranger to controversies. Immediately after the slapping incident, efforts were made to bury it. Even Sreesanth said that it was a "hand shake on the wrong side" and an arrogant Harbhajan, who initially refused to even talk about it, finally admitted that he had "pushed" the Keralite which had "hurt" him. Meanwhile, Engineer has already made it clear that the inquiry would be conducted as per the ICC Code of Conduct and a decision will be taken in the interest of the game. As per the ICC Code of Conduct, slapping a fellow player constitutes a level 4 offence and while it could lead even to a life ban or a minimum ban of five Tests to 10 ODIs. He also said that he would consider video evidence as well to find the truth. "We are not going to sweep things under the carpet. The complaint has to be carefully examined before any decision is made. Everything possible will be done to adjudicate it immediately," Engineer said. "I have already started the process and will be summoning all concerned and will also seek any video evidence recorded by the host broadcaster namely TWI," he added. Two of India's most volatile cricketers figured in the row, which apparently started after Sreesanth said "hard luck" to Harbhajan, who was in foul mood following the Mumbai team's third successive loss. Sreesanth's comment made Harbhajan lose his temper and the spinner struck Sreesanth beneath his eyes, which had the pacer in tears.