Harbhajan Singh [ Images ] may never have imagined in his wildest dreams that the slap he planted on S Sreesanth's [ Images ] face would make him poorer by more than two-and-a-half crore of rupees!

• Harbhajan banned from IPL

The temperamental off spinner was fined 100 per cent of his match fees when he was handed out an eleven-match ban for his unprovoked assault on his India teammate after the Mohali game between his team, Mumbai Indians [ Images ], and the latter's King's XI of Punjab [ Images ] on April 25.

The Punjab-born Harbhajan was purchased by the Mumbai franchise team, owned by Reliance Industries [ Get Quote ], for a whopping $8,50,000 (approximately Rs 3.4 crore).

"There are no separate match fees for IPL matches and the players are given only allowances. The match fee is calculated on a pro-rata basis of the amount he had been bought for by his franchise owner and the number of matches he's able to play," a top BCCI source informed.

• Harbhajan replies to BCCI notice

As per this calculation, the player, termed 'Turbanator' by the Aussie press, stands to lose Rs 2.671 crore -- or close to Rs 25 lakh per match -- for the 11 outings he will miss following the verdict by IPL match referee and former Test stumper Farokh Engineer.

It must rank among the costliest-ever slaps in world history, and certainly a record-setting one in cricket!

The lone consolation, if it can be called so, is that the man who handed out the punishment also hailed him as the best-ever off-spinner India has produced.

One wonders what legendary predecessor Erapalli Prasanna, Engineer's one-time teammate and pal, would make of the statment, not to speak of another great who's among Harbhajan's staunchest critics -- Bishen Singh Bedi [ Images ]!