The 2008 IPL ‘slap-gate’ incident involving India World Cup winners Harbhajan Singh and S Sreesanth remains one of the most infamous and earliest on-field controversies in Indian Premier League history. While the actual footage of the incident from a Mumbai Indians-Kings XI Punjab match in IPL 2008 was never released on air, former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi recently revealed the controversial footage on a podcast with former Australia captain Michael Clarke.
The incident had occurred a few months after Harbhajan’s involvement in the Monkeygate scandal in Australia with Andrew Symonds, rocking the inaugural edition of the IPL and handing Harbhajan an irreversible blot in his professional career. Harbhajan was subsequently banned for 11 matches of the remainder of that season for the Mumbai Indians, while the BCCI further banned him for five ODIs.
WATCH: The unseen Harbhajan-Sreesanth slap video
One of the wildest moments in IPL history, Unseen footage of the Bhajji–Sreesanth slapgate that never been aired#IPL pic.twitter.com/E9Ux8bodOW
— Vishal (@Fanpointofviews) August 29, 2025
‘They wanted a lifetime suspension for Bhajji’
In a fresh perspective on the infamous slap-gate saga, Modi revealed how he managed to hold off the controversial video clip of the altercation for 17 years before sharing it with Clarke on his 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-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,” Modi told Clarke on his show.
The fiery altercation occurred on April 25, 2008, after MI’s 66-run defeat to Punjab in Mohali, post which the two teams were shaking hands. It was later understood that Harbhajan was triggered by a smiling and provocative Sreesanth’s ‘hard luck’ comment to the MI captain after the heavy defeat. In the freshly released footage, Harbhajan is seen to have unleashed a backhand whip on Sreesanth as he stormed past him.
After realising what had happened, a visibly distraught Sreesanth attempted to charge at Harbhajan, who reacted by moving toward him as well. The situation nearly escalated into a brawl before Sreesanth’s teammates Irfan Pathan and Mahela Jayawardene intervened tp pull him aside. Pathan then confronted Harbhajan, but the spinner pointed outside the ground, seemingly challenging him to a fight
Modi also revealed how he went about handing Harbhajan’s suspension, while a section of officials also wanted the veteran off-spinner to be handed a lifetime suspension.
“I sat them both down, and I had to penalize Baji that that in the meeting and I did penalize him for eight games. He got eight games suspension and some people were gunning for a lifetime suspension,” Modi revealed.
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Harbhajan’s deep regret
In a chat with former India spinner R Ashwin on YouTube, Harbhajan had recently revealed how he regretted the exchange with Sreesanth and was crestfallen after meeting up with the pacer’s daughter.
“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
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“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.”
