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Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has accused former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi of having 'selfish motives' as he slammed the fugitive businessman for releasing the unseen footage of the infamous slapgate incident from IPL 2008. Harbhajan had infamously slapped his former India teammate S Sreesanth after a match between his team Mumbai Indians, and Kings XI Punjab.
The incident happened during the routine post-match handshake, where Harbhajan swung at Sreesanth. In the aftermath of the incident, only footage of young Sreesanth in tears went viral as the actual footage was never made public. However, former IPL commissioner Modi recently released the footage during a podcast show with former Australia cricketer Michael Clarke.
The footage leak has rekindled the 17-year-old controversy, sparking mixed reactions. Many, including Sreesanth's wife, recently slammed Modi for trying to revive the controversy unnecessarily, when both Harbhajan and the former India pacer have moved on from the incident. Harbhajan also broke his silence and slammed Modi for his actions.
"The way the video has been leaked, it's wrong. It shouldn't have happened. They might have a selfish motive behind it. Something that happened 18 years ago, people have forgotten, and they are reminding people about it," Harbhajan told Instant Bollywood.
The former Indian spinner once again reiterated that he regrets his mistake to date and feels ashamed about it. Harbhajan has gone public apologising to Sreesanth on several occasions in the past, insisting that he made a mistake.
"I feel bad for whatever happened. We were playing, and everyone had things going on in their mind. Mistakes happened, and I do feel ashamed about it. Yes, the video has gone viral. It was an unfortunate incident, and I have said on many occasions that I made a mistake. Humans make mistakes, and I did one too. I have requested Lord Ganesh to forgive me if I make a mistake again. Mistakes happen," added the former India spinner.
Over the years, both Harbhajan and Sreesanth have moved on from the incident and buried their hatchet from the past. The duo share amicable relations and have played together in veteran cricketers' leagues after retirement. The duo was also part of the Indian team that won the 2011 ODI World Cup under MS Dhoni.
Harbhajan was banned for 11 matches after the slapgate incident and went on to miss the remainder of IPL 2008 for his team Mumbai Indians. The former spinner spent ten seasons with the Mumbai Indians from 2008 to 2017, winning three titles with the team. He played for the Chennai Super Kings for two seasons in 2018 and 2019, before joining KKR for his final season in 2021. Harbhajan picked up 150 wickets in 163 matches in his IPL career.
