Days after former IPL Chairman Lalit Modi shared the unseen footage of former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh slapping S Sreeesath post an IPL match between Mumbai Indians and then Kings XI Punjab, an incident also termed as ‘slapgate’, Singh has termed the uploading of the footage as ‘wrong’ apart from the uploading of the footage being ‘a selfish motive’. Modi had shared the unseen footage of the incident on Michael Clarke’s YouTube podcast Beyond23 Cricket and Singh also reiterated that he still feels and for the incident.
“The way the video has resurfaced, that’s very wrong. I believe nobody should do that. Maybe they have some selfish motive in doing that. Because something that happened 18 years ago, people have forgotten, and they are reminding people about it. So I feel bad for whatever incident that happened during that time. Because, we were playing and we were playing, and everyone had things going on in their mind. Mistakes happened, and I do feel ashamed about it,” Singh told Instant Bollywood after attending a Ganesh Chathurthi pandal in Mumbai.
During the first edition of IPL in 2008, Singh, who was the interim Mumbai Indians skipper, had slapped Sreesanth, who was representing the then Kings XI Punjab post a 66-run win by Punjab at IS Bindra PCA International Stadium in Mohali. Post the incident, there was only footage of the players post the incident before Modi uploaded the unseen footage of Singh slapping Sreesanth on Clark’s podcast last week. Singh, who had announced his retirement from International cricket in 2021, again termed the incident as unfortunate and shared that he had accepted his mistake at every stage. “Yes, the video has gone viral. It was an unfortunate incident and I have spoken about it on various stages that it was a mistake. Humans make mistakes, and I did one too. And I have accepted that mistake at every stage. I have come here to Lord Ganesha and I have requested Lord Ganesh to forgive me if I make a mistake again,’ Singh said.
Earlier, Sreesanth’s wife Bhuvneshwari Sreesanth too had termed the uploading of the footage of the incident as ‘fearless and inhuman’. “Shame on you @Lalitkmodi and @Michaelclarkeofficial. You people are not even human to drag up something from 2008 just for your own publicity and views. Both @Sreesanthnair.36 and Harbhajan have long moved on, they are fathers now with children, and yet you try to throw them back into an old wound. Absolutely disgusting, heartless and inhuman,” Bhuvneshwari wrote on her official Instagram stories.
Earlier this year, Singh had talked about the incident on a show with former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin. Singh explained how Sreesanth’s daughter refused to speak with him due to the incident. “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,” Singh had said.
