File photo of Harbhajan Singh (left) and S Sreesanth.© AFP
In the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008, an infamous incident hogged liemight all over the world. Then India teammates Harbhajan Singh and S Sreesanth, playing for opposing teams in the IPL, were involved in one of the biggest controversies to hit the tournament. Certain media reports claimed that Sreesanth — playing for Kings XI Punjab — was allegedly slapped by Mumbai Indians star Harbhajan Singh. Subsequently, the off-spinner received a lengthy ban. Though a lot has been listened and discussed about it till date, Sreesanth has cleared more air after 14 years of the incident.
“We have always been friends. That was just a misunderstanding and the media made a big noise out of it. I will just say that Bhajji pa has supported me from the beginning in every way, including recently with commentary tips. He has supported me and helped me a lot and I am very thankful to him. There is that song, ‘Tere jaisa yaar kaha’, that is my relationship with him,” said Sreesanth on Sports Yaari.
Having already admitted his mistake and apologised for the unruly incident, Harbhajan Singh last year had opened up on the infamous incident once again. This time in the presence of Sreesanth.
The duo appeared on ‘Pitch-Ed Battles with Vikram Sathaye’ on Glance Live Fest where Harbhajan spoke about the embarrassment both him and Sreesanth had to go through after the incident.
“Whatever happened in that IPL match, it was wrong. From my side it was wrong. I made a mistake by doing that. Because of it my colleague, my own teammate had to face embarrassment. I had to face the embarrassment that I had done a thing like this,” said the former India spinner.
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