For the first time since 2008, the unseen footage of Harbhajan Singh slapping Sreesanth -- a major controversy in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League -- was released by Lalit Modi during an interview with ex-Australian captain Michael Clarke.
The video quickly went viral and was shared across the cricket fraternity. The IPK founder spoke about the incident on Clarke's podcast.
However, despite all the attention that the viral video got, Sreesanth's family ARE unhappy about the footage re-surfacing when they had come to terms with the unfortunate incident years before.
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Lalit Modi speaks on Harbhajan-Sreesanth altercation in IPL 2008
The 'Slapgate' incident occurred on April 25, 2008, when the Kings XI Punjab defended a score of 182 against the Mumbai Indians, winning the match by 66 runs.
Sreesanth had ended with the figures of 2/31 in his four overs. As the players exchanged handshakes after the match, Mumbai's Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth, who was later shown on television in tears.
Although the altercation was caught on camera, the IPL never released the footage. Then-commissioner Lalit Modi later admitted that it had been deliberately withheld to protect the league's image.
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"It happened. I will tell you want happened. The game was over and the players were shaking hands. Sreesanth approached Bhajji and Bhajji gave him a backhander. I sat them both down and I had to peanlize Bhajji in the meeting for 8 games because I found it offensive. We needed to set an example," he said.
The famous slap in my podcast with @MClarke23 on #beyond23 - part 3 of my podcast. I love @harbhajan_singh - but after 17 years it was time to reveal it. Lots and lots more to reveal but that will now only be in the movie that’s in the works supervised by @SnehaRajani on my… pic.twitter.com/EhPaIRAZ0F
— Lalit Kumar Modi (@LalitKModi) August 29, 2025
Sreesanth's wife slams Lalit Modi and Michael Clarke for releasing the slapgate footage:
Hours after the video went viral, Bhuvneshwari Sreesanth took to her Instagram and expressed her disappointment at seeing the video on the internet and felt it was a cheap tactic from the duo to garner views.
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She specifically tagged both of them to let them know that their kid and the family felt distressed about reliving the trauma.
Instagram story of Sreesanth's wife. ✅ pic.twitter.com/hWKj2ai3Ob
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 30, 2025
Both Harbhajan and Sreesanth have now notably moved on from the incident and the spinner has also apologized to the speedster and the family publicly on multiple occasions.
They also continue to share the broadcasting teams and are seen together in multiple legends leagues.