New Delhi [India], August 29 : Former cricketer S Sreesanth's wife Bhuvneshwari Sreesanth lashed out at ex-Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi and ex-Australian batter Michael Clarke for revealing the never-seen-before footage of former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh's 'slapgate' with pacer. Pointing out how both players have moved on from the incident, she termed Modi-Clarke's act as "disgusting, heartless and inhuman".
Modi and Clarke revealed the never-seen-before footage of the slapgate in the aftermath of an IPL 2008 fixture between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab), on the latest episode of Aussie legend's Beyond23 Podcast.
In the footage, Harbhajan could be seen slapping the pacer with the back of his hand during the post-match handshakes. Harbhajan was MI's captain, and his team had faced a 66-run loss to Punjab.
The footage, which was never available untill now, has finally surfaced. Sreesanth was left in tears after the incident, being consoled by his captain and Sri Lankan legend Mahela Jayawardene. Harbhajan then once again proceeded to return towards Sreesanth, making an animated gesture before Irfan Pathan and Mahela diffused the situation.
Taking to her Instagram story, Bhuvneshwari wrote, "Shame on you @lalitkmodi and @michaelclarkeofficial. You people are not even human to drag up something from 2008 just for your own cheap publicity and views. Both @sreesanthnair36 and Harbhajan have long moved on, they are fathers now with school-going children, and yet you try to throw them back into an old wound. Absolutely disgusting, heartless, and inhuman."
In another story, she pointed out how the footage's emergence has been "painful" for her family and added that both should be sued for not just hurting the players, but "scarring their innocent children who now have to face questions and shame for no fault of theirs."
During the podcast, Modi revealed that broadcast cameras did not capture the incident as they were switched off after the match and instead it was one of his personal security cameras, which captured Harbhajan giving a "backhander" to Sreesanth".
"I had kept that video. The game was over, and the cameras had shut off. One of my security cameras was on because I was walking in the field. It was caught as the teams finished playing. The players were going thanking each other and shaking hands. One team was going one way, the other team was going the opposite way, and then it came down to Sreesanth and Bhajji. Bhajji just looks at him, said something, and gave him a backhander. I had not put it out for so long - it has been 18 years now," said Modi as quoted by Wisden.
This incident led to an eight-match ban on Harbhajan. On the ban received by 'Bhajji', Modi said he found the incident offensive and boundaries needed to be set.
"I sat them both down afterwards and had to penalise Bhajji in the meeting. He received an eight-match suspension, although some people were calling for a lifetime suspension. It was a new league, lots of passion, but I found it offensive. It was not just about Bhajji or Sreesanth; we needed to set an example, we needed to set boundaries," he said.
Recently, Harbhajan had reflected on this incident on Indian cricket legend Ravichandran Ashwin's YouTube Channel, saying, "One thing I'd want to change in my life is that incident with Sreesanth. I want to remove that incident from my career. What transpired was wrong, and I should not have done what I did. I apologised 200 times. What I felt so bad about was that even years after that incident, I have been apologising every opportunity or stage I get. It was a mistake."
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