Harbhajan Singh slapping S Sreesanth Video: Eighteen years after the infamous ‘slapgate’ incident in the inaugural Indian Premier League, raw footage of Harbhajan Singh slapping S Sreesanth has surfaced. The incident occurred after a match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab in 2008. IPL founder and former chairman Lalit Modi released the unseen video during an interview with former Australian captain Michael Clarke on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast. In the clip, Harbhajan, wearing the Mumbai Indians jersey, can be seen striking Sreesanth of Kings XI Punjab with a backhand slap. Modi confirmed the video had not been part of the original worldwide broadcast.
Modi told former Australian captain Michael Clarke on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast, “It happened absolutely. Bhajji just looks at him and gives him a backhander. I sat them both down and penalised Bhajji for eight games.”
Harbhajan has publicly apologised for the incident multiple times. In a recent conversation with Ravichandran Ashwin on YouTube, he expressed deep regret. “One thing I’d want to change in my life is that incident with Sreesanth. I want to remove that incident from my career. It was wrong, and I shouldn’t have done it. I apologised 200 times," Harbhajan said.
He added that meeting Sreesanth’s daughter after the incident had left a lasting emotional impact. “She said, ‘I don’t want to talk to you. You hit my father.’ My heart was shattered. I felt so bad and still apologise to his daughter," he said.
