From its very first iteration in 2008, the Indian Premier League has attracted its fair share of controversy, perhaps not surprising given the stakes. The richest domestic competition in world cricket, with tens of millions watching every match, it is not surprising that pressure sometimes gets the better of some people.
In 2008, the inaugural year of the competition, the Mumbai Indians were playing the Kings XI Punjab.
Sachin Tendulkar, meant to captain Mumbai that season, was ruled out because of injury. His international teammate Harbhajan Singh led instead.
Despite having a strong side, Mumbai had made a poor start to their campaign, losing their opening four matches. Fingers of blame were starting to be pointed at Harbhajan.
Perhaps that explains why he was feeling particularly sensitive after another loss to Punjab, this time by 66 runs.
The exact nature of what happened has never been fully explained, but there have been suggestions that S. Sreesanth had been continually winding up the Indians with his comments during the match. And in the post-game aftermath, he went too far with one of his jokes.
When the pair met after the match, Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth in the face. Television cameras captured the latter crying on the field before the presentation ceremony began.
Punjab captain Yuvraj Singh and coach Tom Moody were furious and deemed Harbhajan’s behaviour as unacceptable. They wanted to file a formal complaint against the Harbhajan, but Sreesanth himself sought to play it down, insisting it was not a big deal.
He also maintained that he and Harbhajan were friends. They had played international cricket together, and that Harbhajan was like an elder brother to him.
The IPL, though, did not take such a lenient view of the matter. Harbhajan was banned for 13 matches (thus effectively banned from the rest of the tournament). He was also prohibited from collecting his salary after being found guilty.
He was banned separately by the BCCI for five ODIs.
With Harbhajan banned, Shaun Pollock took over the captaincy and did well until Tendulkar was fit to take over again.
However, when Tendulkar left finally in 2012, Harbhajan was initially chosen to replace him as captain. He led Mumbai to Champions Trophy success.