Kings XI Punjab skipper Yuvraj Singh told the media that “the act” was unacceptable but did not confirm if Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth. However, he said that Harbhajan apologised to Sreesanth after the incident took place.

“That was unacceptable behavior. But Harbhajan late came to the dressing and spoke with Sree and am sure apologised,” Yuvraj said.

The coach of Kings XI Punjab, Tom Moody said the matter must be left with the authorities to deal with.

“I had a long chat with Sree. This was unacceptable. I don’t know what the ramifications will be but I am sure officials will deal with it in their own fashion,” he said.

When CNN-IBN’s Nishant Arora spoke with the two players, both played down the incident.

“He didn’t slap me. May be the handshake was in the wrong place,” Sreesanth said. However, he did let it slip that he was a “little hurt”.

“It was just a misunderstanding, a part of the game. After all we all play together and share the same dressing room. So I did not take it too seriously and have not much to complain about him (Harbhajan). We all know Bhajji and need not take it seriously. I was a little hurt but am fine with it,” he said.

He also said Harbhajan apologised after he broke down on the field.

“I just cried because, I don’t know. I am fine, he spoke with me, apologised. But there was no need because end of the day, we play for the same team and we have to go together a long way. Whatever happens in IPL should not be taken too seriously as end of the day it’s just entertainment. Whatever happened shouldn’t have happened but it’s okay,” he said.

Harbhajan too confirmed this and said they had kissed and made up. “It’s not a big issue, people making it an issue. As far as both of us are concerned, the matter is solved. Nothing happened between us. he is like my younger brother and respects me. I did push him, may be just a little too hard, but later apologised. We sat, we talked and it’s over. I told him I was sorry if he felt bad. We have been together for so long and have to go a long way. These things are between us. We are over with it.”

IPL Chairman Lalit Modi says the authorities have not received any complain and will take action only after an official complain is lodged.

He also said if match referee complains, action will be taken according to the ICC law.

The cheerleading girls, wearing short skirts and low-cut tops, have been hired from around the world to perform during the matches which are also being heavily endorsed by leading Bollywood stars.They include cheerleaders from the Washington Redskins.

The junior interior minister of western Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, said the performances of cheerleading girls at the Indian Premier League matches were "absolutely obscene"."We live in India where womanhood is worshipped. How can anything obscene like this be allowed?," Siddharam Mehetre told the Press Trust of India news agency.

"This thing is meant for foreigners and not for us. Mothers and daughters watch these matches on television. It does not look nice."

A former Bollywood actor and a politician belonging to the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shatrughan Sinha said the cheerleaders were making a "mockery" of the game.

There have been reports in the Indian newspapers of cheerleaders complaining of sections of the crowd jeering at them and making lewd comments.

The multi-million dollar competition has been hyped as one which will revolutionize the game with a fizzy cocktail of cricket, entertainment and celebrity shows.

Starved

So how do you serve up entertainment to embellish a game which is religion for millions of Indians? It’s a fairly uncomplicated recipe.

Take a large helping of Bollywood stars, sautee it with some more Bollywood music, and then add whatever you can lay your hands on - cheerleading girls, stilt walkers, cyclists furiously riding around the ground, acrobats hanging from the stadium roof.

It appears to be working in an entertainment-starved country where an evening out in the big cities essentially means flocking to shiny, air-conditioned malls to shop, eating unappetizing precooked food, and catching a Bollywood movie at the overpriced cineplex.

No wonder then that, for the inaugural ceremony, the organizers hired cheerleaders from America, stilt walkers from Holland, stunt acrobats from Germany and laser operators from China and Malaysia to serve up a visually stunning show. It was helped by 250,000 watts of sound and 50,000 watts of lighting through lasers and sky tracers. Many of the players on the field were imported too.

But such ‘classy entertainment’ like getting skimpily-clad foreign cheerleading girls is sometimes threatening to go out of hand at the competition.

The Situation and Reality on the Ground as Expected

In Bangalore beer-addled spectators exhorted the girls to come down and dance with them, screaming in unison to a Bollywood song, "Come to us, come to us, now!"

And in Mumbai, swooning men implored the shimmying girls, "Madam, madam, shake hand, shake hand!".

Analysts say cricket and the cult of celebrity are feeding off each other at the competition.

"The cricket uses celebrities to feel good about itself; the celebrities use the cricket to stay in the headlines. It’s a symbiosis of a particularly cynical kind," says cricket writer Lawrence Booth.

Meanwhile, as Bollywood stars dance and cheerleading girls do the jig, electronic scorecards are yet not working in many stadiums, and at the weekend match in Calcutta, there was no drinking water available for over 70,000 spectators.

Also, a floodlight blew its fuse stopping the game for half an hour and the dustbowl cricket pitch invited the wrath of players and analysts alike.

Clearly, there is nothing revolutionary about all this, and how it will change the game - for the better- is unclear.

ICC President Ray Mali this evening thanked his homeland of South Africa for hosting a magnificent inaugural ICC World Twenty20.

Speaking after India’s nerve-shredding five-run victory over Pakistan in the final at The Wanderers on Monday, Mr Mali said: “Thank you South Africa for doing such a superb job of staging this event.  You have done yourselves, Cricket South Africa and the ICC proud.

“This tournament was something of a journey into the unknown for all concerned given the newness of the Twenty20 format but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it is has been a huge success.

“We can now move forward to plot the next staging of this event, in England in 2009, the ICC’s centenary year, safe in the knowledge that Twenty20 International cricket has taken its place at the game’s top table.

“This tournament has been an excellent advertisement for all that is great about our sport and we look forward to working with these partners in the years to come.”

The next ICC event to be covered on ESS will be the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup, due to take place in Malaysia in February and March of 2008; that will be followed, later in the year, by the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

Further details of these events and others, including the Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Pakistan and the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 in Namibia, both set for November 2007, will be announced in due course.

Thousands braved monsoon rain to greet the cricketers off a flight from South Africa which landed in the western city of Mumbai on Wednesday morning.

Private security guards were also drafted in to cope with the crush as new captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni led his side out of Chhattrapati Shivaji International Airport.

Many children joined the throng, dancing to drum beats as the cricketers boarded an open-top bus which inched its way through a sea of supporters waving Indian flags and pictures of Dhoni.

The vividly-painted bus set off on a 30-kilometre (19-mile) drive to the Wankhede cricket stadium in south Mumbai with players taking turns to hold aloft the trophy.

Fans lit firecrackers, sang songs and waved placards as the exuberant Indian players danced and hugged each other under a heavy shower.

Policemen joined in the dancing as rose and marigold petals were thrown in the air.

India, restricted to 157-5 with the bat, fought back to bowl out Pakistan for 152 in a thrilling final on Monday in Johannesburg.

“These kids have proved themselves, they have the capacity to take us to greater heights,” former chief selector Kiran More told reporters.

India media reported that the team had partied through the night in South Africa.

“We just went crazy,” star fast bowler Irfan Pathan said. “Unlike other Indian teams this team celebrates in style.”

Skipper Dhoni was keen to temper celebrations. “Just live in the present, keep your feet on the ground, enjoy your success but don’t get carried away,” he told his teammates.

The surprise win by India, who were widely criticised at home earlier this year after being knocked out of the 50-overs World Cup tournament at the first stage, prompted the government and others to rain gifts on the players.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel announced free round-the-world air tickets for players and their families.

The private Sahara India trading group gifted each player a new house.

The Board of Cricket Control in India promised huge rewards for the players and support staff.

Among the bigger prizes was a Porsche car for Yuvraj Singh, who hit six sixes in one over.