Jigar Saraswat After 17 years in the IPL archives, former IPL commissioner LalitModi has finally released the video.
In the first season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 17 years ago, a controversy over a slap between Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth remained at the top of headlines for years. Now, after all these years, former Cricket League commissioner LalitModi has finally released the video.
LalitModi shares actual footage of Harbhajan Singh slapping S Sreesanth.
For almost two decades, the video clip of the infamous IPL ‘slapgate’ incident between Harbhajan Singh and S. Sreesanth remained hidden. No one quite knew what happened except how Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth after Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) defeated the Mumbai Indians in a match from the first-ever edition of the IPL. When the incident occurred, the coverage had cut to commercials, and when the live stream resumed, visuals of Sreesanth crying sent shockwaves through the cricket world. Finally, the video was released by LalitModi and aired on Michael Clarke’s Beyond23 podcast.
What did LalitModi say on Michael Clarke’s podcast?
Modi told Clarke on the show, “I’ll tell you what happened. I will give you the video. I have kept it back. Bhajji is a very dear friend of mine. I love him. It happened on the field, and I was there. It was Bhajji, and it was Sreesanth. The game was over, and the cameras were shut off. Only one of my security cameras was on. As the team finished playing, the players were high-fiving and shaking hands with each other. When it came to Sreesanth and Bhajji. Harbhajan just said to him, ‘Come here’, and gave him a backhander.”
Regret by Harbhajan Singh.
Recently, Harbhajan Singh featured on R Ashwin’s YouTube podcast. Speaking about the incident, he said, “One thing I’d want to change in my life is that incident with Sreesanth. I want to remove that incident from my career. That is the incident I would change from my list. What transpired was wrong, and I shouldn’t have done what I did. I apologised 200 times.” He added, “What I felt so bad was even years after that incident, I have been apologising every opportunity or stage I get. It was a mistake. We all make mistakes, and we hope and try to never repeat such mistakes. He was my teammate and we were playing together. Yes, in that game we were opponents. But it shouldn’t have gone to that level where we behave in such a manner. So yeah, that was my fault and the only fault of his was that he provoked me, but that’s okay actually. However, what I did was not okay. I said, ‘Sorry. ‘”
Harbhajan further said, “What hurt me even after many years was when I met his daughter, and I was talking to her with a lot of love, and she said, ‘I don’t want to talk to you. You hit my father.’ My heart was shattered, and I was on the verge of tears. I was asking myself what is the impression I’ve left on her? She must be thinking of me in a poor light, right? She sees me as the guy who hit her father. I felt so bad. I still apologise to his daughter that I can’t do anything.” He added, “I keep telling her, ‘but if there’s anything I can do to make you feel better and make you think I’m not that kind of person, please tell me’. I wish when she grows up, she doesn’t see me in the same light. And think her uncle will always be with her and extend any kind of support he can. That’s why I want to remove that chapter.”
