One of the most controversial moments in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history has finally surfaced. In fact, former IPL founder and president, Lalit Modi, in 2008, has released unseen footage of the notorious “Slapgate” incident, including Harbhajan Singh and S Sreesanth.
In the notorious incident, Mumbai Indians spinner Harbhajan Singh slapped Sreesanth of Pesar of Punjab Kings during the inaugural IPL season in 2008. The incident was hidden from the public for about two decades, as only a brief report and the word-off-mouth was aired between the fans and the media.
Now, Lalit Modi has released an unseen video on Podcast Beyond 23 cricket of former Australia captain Michael Clarke. It is shown in the video that Harbhajan went on strike to Sreesanth on the field and prepared the players of both teams for customary handshake.
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Sreesanth appears blindly and try to face Harbhajan after the slap. Harbhajan also moved on the field, moving forward. The situation may be out of control, but Irfan Pathan and Mahela Jayawardene quickly stepped up to calm things.
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Pathan caught Sreesanth back, facing Harbhajan. At one point, in the video, Harbhajan is shown pointing to the border ropes, which challenges Pathan to fight outside the sports field. At that time, the TV cameras were closed.
The entire incident was captured only at the security camera of the former IPL president office at that time and remained private till now. Now, the release of this raw footage has trusted discussions among the cricket fraternity, which reminds everyone of the infamous “Slapgate” incident.
Harbhajan Singh gave S Sreesanth a Backhandee: Lalit Modi
Lalit Modi said on Beyond 23 Cricket Podcast: “BJPji (Harbhajan Singh) is a very dear friend of mine. I love him. It was on the field, and I was there. It was the BJP, and it was Sreesanth. The game was over, and the cameras were closed. My safety was one of the cameras.
I was walking out of the field. As soon as the team started playing, the players used to shake hands with high-ferving and each other. When it came to Sreesanth and BJP. Bhaji just looked at him and said to him, ‘Come here,’ and gave him a backhander. Here is the video that we were talking about. I have not kept it for so long. ,
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The former president of the former IPL further said, “I put both of them down, and I had to punish the BJP in that meeting.
Lalit Modi released an unseen video of the BJP -Sisant Slapgate. pic.twitter.com/nh5vhplyae
– Mufadal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 29, 2025
Harbhajan Singh called the incident of ‘slapgate’ the biggest regret of his career
Over the years, Harbhajan Singh repeatedly s. Sreesanth has apologized for the incident of infamous slap. Recently, he admitted that this was the greatest regret of his career and said that if he could go back on time, he would completely erase that moment.
He told R Ashwin on his YouTube channel, “One thing that I want to convert to my life is that the event with Sreesanth. I want to remove that incident from my career. This is the incident that I will change from my list. I apologized for 200 times. I have been apologizing on every occasion or stage. It was a mistake.”
