Lalit Modi releases Sreesanth-Harbhajan Singh's rare video from slapgate incident

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has grown into cricket’s richest league, but one infamous incident from its inaugural edition in 2008 has long remained a talking point. During a clash between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), MI skipper Harbhajan Singh was involved in an ugly altercation where he slapped Punjab pacer S Sreesanth, an episode that came to be infamously known as ‘Slapgate’.

For years, only glimpses of the incident were seen, with the raw footage never making it to the live broadcast. Now, IPL founder and former chairman Lalit Modi has revealed the unseen video for the first time. In a conversation with Australia’s World Cup-winning captain Michael Clarke, Modi shared the unedited clip of the altercation that shook the league in its early days.

"The game was over, cameras were shut off. One of my security cameras was on. It caught the incident between Sreesanth and Bhajji (Harbhajan), and Bhajji just gives him a back-hander. Here's the video. I hadn't put it out for so long. We have 18 years behind us for this,” said Lalit on Beyond23 Cricket Podcast.

Want to remove that incident from my career: Harbhajan

Recently, Harbhajan himself opened up about the infamous slapgate incident, expressing deep regret over his actions even after almost eighteen years have passed since it happened. The former India off-spinner admitted that if he had the chance to erase one moment from his career, it would undoubtedly be the 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. 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," Harbhajan had said on R Ashwin's YouTube show Kutti Stories.

"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," he added.