'Selfish': Why did Lalit Modi leak Sreesanth's slap incident after 18 years, says Harbhajan Singh

The infamous "slapgate" controversy involving Harbhajan Singh and S. Sreesanth has resurfaced nearly 18 years later after former IPL chairman Lalit Modi leaked the long-unseen video of the incident on social media.

The incident, which took place during the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008, became a fresh topic of debate after the video went viral.

Lalit Modi discussed the incident during an appearance on Michael Clarke's podcast Beyond 23, where he also released the controversial footage that had never been made public before.

The move has drawn sharp criticism from both Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth’s wife. Reacting to the video release, Harbhajan told Instant Bollywood: “The way the video has been leaked, it's wrong. It shouldn't have happened. They might have a selfish motive behind it. Something that happened 18 years ago, people have forgotten, and they are reminding everyone about it.”

The former India spinner reiterated that he has apologised to Sreesanth multiple times and that the two have since moved on from the episode.

“I feel bad for whatever happened. We were playing, and everyone had things going on in their mind. Mistakes happened, and we do feel ashamed about it,” he added.

“Yes, the video has gone viral. It was an unfortunate incident, and I’ve said many times that I made a mistake. Humans make mistakes, and I did one too. I have requested Lord Ganesh to forgive me if I make a mistake again.”

While the relationship between Harbhajan and Sreesanth appears to be healed, the public release of the video has reignited old wounds and sparked a new controversy, with many questioning Lalit Modi’s motives behind revisiting a long-settled issue.