PTI

New Delhi, Apr 30: A day after banning temperamental spinner Harbhajan Singh for a minimum of 11 matches, the Indian Premier League on Tuesday cracked the whip on umpire Amish Saheba by suspending him for two matches for his remarks against pacer S Sreesanth.

Saheba was subjected to disciplinary action for making a statement to a Mumbai newspaper about Sreesanth's conduct during the match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab in Mohali where Harbhajan had slapped the Kerala speedster.

In the interview to the newspaper, Saheba said that Sreesanth indulged in sledging right through the match.

"The IPL governing council has withdrawn Amish Saheba's appointment for two matches of IPL," a BCCI release said. Apart from being suspended for two matches, Saheba has also been asked to explain to the BCCI his remarks to the newspaper.

"The Board of Control for Cricket in India has sought explanation from the umpire Amish Saheba about his statements appearing in Mumbai Mirror regarding the behaviour of Sreesanth in the match between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings at Mohali," the release said.

BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said that Amish Saheba should have informed the match referee about Sreesanth's conduct instead of going to the press.

Harbhajan was yesterday banned from the IPL for slapping the Kerala fast bowler and was fined a whopping Rs three crore by match referee Farokh Engineer after a two-hour long disciplinary hearing.

Sreesanth was also warned that his on-field behaviour will be closely monitored from now on.