Harbhajan appeals to BCCI for one last chance

New Delhi: Fears about being banned for a few matches by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), have prompted Harbhajan Singh to appeal to the board to give him a final chance to rehabilitate himself.

In a letter to the BCCI, Harbhajan once again apologised to Sreesanth for the incident in Mohali, and said he was willing to appologise again in public.

"Along with accepting my most sincere and heartfelt apologies over this incident, I would like to appeal to the Board's sense of fairplay and ask for one final chance before taking any disciplinary action against me over this incident," he said.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has already penalised him by canceling the rest of his contract for this year. The BCCI is also expected to punish him separately for a Level 4 offence as per the ICC Players' Code of Conduct.

A Level 4 offence leads to a maximum punishment of a life ban or a minimum ban of five Tests or 10 One-Day Internationals.

BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said, “Harbhajan has been writing a number of letters and it was not proper for him to divulge the contents. The inquiry is going on. We are waiting for the report."

A top BCCI source said that the Board would take disciplinary action against Harbhajan on the basis of the recommendations made by advocate Sudhir Nanavati.

Nanavati had on Tuesday said that he was shocked after seeing the video footage of the incident and is expected to submit his inquiry report on the matter to Board President Sharad Pawar on Monday.

Harbhajan allegedly had slapped Sreesanth after the end of IPL match in Mohali on April 25.

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