The wife of former Indian cricketer Sreesanth is outraged after historical footage of an infamous IPL incident was aired on Michael Clarke’s podcast.
Up until now, the 2008 footage — dubbed as ‘slapgate’ — had not been made public.
It was the first year of the IPL and the incident involved Sreesanth and legendary spinner Harbhajan Singh at the end of a game where Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth, leaving his rival in tears.
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Harbhajan was suspended for the wild act.
Eighteen years on, former IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi has appeared on Clarke’s podcast, Beyond23 Cricket, and, for some reason, decided to air the previously off-limits vision.
“It happened absolutely,” Modi said to the former Australian Test captain.
“It was Bhajji, it was Sreesanth. The players are going, thanking each other, shaking hands. Sreesanth and Bhajji … Bhajji just looks at him and just gives him a backhander.
“I sat them both down, and I had to penalise Bhajji in the meeting. I did penalise him for eight games.”
The old story and content is certainly intriguing, but for the vison now to be randomly surfaced has triggered Sreesnath’s family.
“Shame on you Lalitk Modi and Michael Clarke. You people are not even human to drag up something from 2008 just for your own cheap publicity and views,” Sreesanth’s wife, Bhuvneshwari Sreesanth, said on social media.
“Both Sreesanth and Harbhajan have long moved on, they are fathers now with school‐going children, and yet you try to throw them back into an old wound.
“Absolutely disgusting, heartless, and inhuman.
“Sreesanth has rebuilt his life with dignity and grace after every hardship he faced. As his wife, and as the mother of his children, it is deeply painful for our family to see this resurface after 18 long years.
“Families are being forced to relive trauma that was buried decades ago, only so you can chase views. This doesn’t just hurt the players, it scars their innocent children who now have to face questions and shame for no fault of theirs.
“You should be sued for doing something so cheap and inhumane. Sreesanth is a man of strength and character, and no video can take that dignity away from him. Fear God before you hurt families and innocent children for your own gain.”
Harbhajan has apologised for the slap many times over and even recently discussed it with Ravichandran Ashwin in an interview, again expressing remorse.
“One thing I’d want to change in my life is that incident with Sreesanth. I want to remove that incident from my career,” Harbhajan said.
“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.”