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, and the latter's King's XI of Punjab 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!