The Australians will certainly be watching closely. Harbhajan’s entanglement with Andrew Symonds during India’s tour Down Under turned into a battle of wits between the Indian board and the rest of the ICC establishment. But more than that, for the BCCI the concern should be the iconisation of its cricketers. The IPL is founded on the star qualities of Indian cricketers. Barring a high bid for, ironically, Symonds, India’s leading cricketers are the highest paid members of the eight squads. It was obviously felt that an Indian icon was required by the squads for a sense of city loyalty to coalesce around each of them. Without the stars, it could be said, the IPL as a summertime entertainer would not be possible.

Harbhajan’s outrageous — though unsurprising — behaviour shows the dangers of nurturing the star system. In a strange way, the episode makes the BCCI’s point to critics of the IPL: the league is, ultimately, about cricket and its codes.