For almost 20 years, the video footage of the infamous IPL slapgate incident between Harbhajan Singh and S Sreesanth stayed hidden. It was archived.
All these years, no one quite knew what had happened, except the fact that Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth after Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) defeated the Mumbai Indians in a match from the first-ever edition of the Indian Premier League. When the incident took place, the coverage had cut to commercials, and when the live streaming came back on, the visuals of Sreesanth crying sent absolute shockwaves through the cricketing world. These were Indian teammates, playing for the same team. What could have happened that senior pro Harbhajan was forced to raise his hand on his younger teammate? Of course, a lot of water has flown under the bridge since. Harbhajan and Sreesanth have since buried the hatchet and gone on to become good friends. However, after 17 long years, the clip that sent ripples through the tournament is finally released when former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi aired it on Michael Clarke’s Beyond23 podcast.
“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-fiv5’ing’ 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,” Modi told Clarke on his show.
Watch the video below:
And boy, it does not make for pleasant viewing even today. Harbhajan struck Sreesanth with a back-handed slap when the players of one team were shaking hands with the other after the match. That Harbhajan got physical with his India teammate left everyone in shock. But once Sreesanth realised what had happened, the former India pacer did not hold back either. He charged towards Harbhajan, evoking the same reaction out of the senior spinner and almost brawled, before thankfully, Sreesanth was grabbed by Irfan Pathan and Mahela Jayawardene, and pulled back. Pathan then went up to Harbhajan as well, but the veteran spinner was having none of it, pointing outside the ground, almost challenging him to meet him there. Absolutely wild scenes.
The slapgate incident was the IPL’s first on-field controversy, a list which has only expanded over the years. What triggered Harbhajan was a smiling Sreesanth, who walked up to the MI captain and said ‘hard luck’ after his team lost the contest by 66 runs. This wasn’t it. Sreesanth’s dismissal of Shaun Pollock, followed by some words exchanged with Robin Uthappa, who was spearheading MI’s chase, didn’t sit well with the Mumbai camp. Harbhajan later apologised for the incident in the dressing room, but the visuals of Sreesanth in tears, to date, remain one of the most defining images in the history of the IPL. Then captain Yuvraj Singh, despite being one of Harbhajan’s closest friends, condemned the actions, calling the incident ‘ugly and unacceptable’. BCCI had suspended Harbhajan for the remaining games of the season.
Harbhajan Singh regrets his actions
Harbhajan recently featured on R Ashwin’s YouTube podcast, where the 45-year-old candidly reflected on his cricketing journey. From his early days in the sport to life after retirement, he touched on a wide range of topics, including the infamous altercation with Sreesanth.”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 had said.
“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 was further scarred by the slapgate incident when he met Sreesanth’s daughter
“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.”