The inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was one of the turning points in India’s cricketing history. The tournament garnered attention from people across the world for taking T20 cricket to another level. Besides cricket, there was one more incident that highlighted the 2008 season; the infamous slapgate episode that involved former cricketers Harbhajan Singh and S Sreesanth.
The controversy erupted after the two had a heated altercation in a match between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). While the former pacer represented the Punjab franchise, Harbhajan was playing for Sachin Tendulkar-led Mumbai.
It was learned that Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth during the routine handshake after Mumbai lost the game by 66 runs in Mohali. Though the incident wasn’t aired on television, the Punjab speedster was spotted shedding tears.
Since then, Harbhajan has admitted on several occasions that it was a mistake that shouldn’t have happened. Recently, he joined his former teammate Sreesanth in a video chat with renowned cricket presenter and author Vikram Sathaye.
During the conversation, the former off-spinner said if he gets a chance to correct one of his mistakes then it would definitely be the incident that happened in IPL 2008.
“What happened was wrong. I made a mistake. Because of me, my teammate had to face embarrassment. I was embarrassed. If I had to correct one mistake, it was how I treated Sreesanth on the field. It should not have happened. When I think about it, I feel there was no need,” Harbhajan said.
Following the incident, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) launched a separate investigation of the entire matter. As a result, Harbhajan was slapped with a ban of 5 ODIs.
Both cricketers, who were part of the 2011 World Cup-winning Indian team, announced their retirements from international cricket recently. Harbhajan drew curtains on his career in December 2021 with a total of 711 wickets in his pocket, from 367 international matches for India.
Sreesanth, on the other hand, retired earlier this year. He made the announcement during the league stage of the Ranji Trophy 2022, in March. The Kerala pacer had picked 169 wickets in 90 international fixtures.
