Updated: August 29, 2025 4:58 PM IST 
It has taken 18 years for Virat Kohli’s Royal Challenger Bengaluru to win he Indian Premier League (IPL) and almost after those many years the infamous raw footage of Harbhajan Singh’s slap to India teammate S. Sreesanth is now finally out. Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi during an interview to Australian cricketer Michael Clarke has released the raw footage of the slap.
The original video of former Mumbai Indians captain Harbhajan Singh’s slap to Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) pacer Sreesanth has now gone viral on social media. The incident took place after an IPL 2008 match between MI and KXIP at the PCA Stadium in Mohali.
So after 17 years the Bhajji slapping Sreesanth footage actually came out.
The wildest IPL clip I’ve seen.
— Fantasy Cricket Pro 🏏 (Viren Hemrajani) (@FantasycricPro) August 29, 2025
Lalit Modi revealed to Clarke that the video was captured on a security camera. “The game was over, cameras were shut off. One of my security cameras was on. It caught the incident between Sreesanth and Bhajji (Harbhajan), and Bhajji just gives him a back-hander. Here’s the video,” Modi told Clarke on the ‘Beyond23’ cricket podcast.
“I hadn’t put it out for so long. We have 18 years behind us for this,” Modi added.
In the video, Harbhajan is seen slapping Sreesanth and then former Punjab captain Mahela Jayawardene and all-rounder Irfan Pathan are seen coming in the middle to stop the fight with Sreesanth breaking down in tears. Punjab owner and Bollywood actor Preity Zinta then famous consoled Sreesanth after the incident.
The matter was then reported to the match referee of the game and former India wicketkeeper Farukh Engineer. BCCI then appointed commission Sudhir Nanavati to probe what became the ‘Slapgate’ controversy.
The BCCI then slapped a five-match ban on Harbhajan Singh in the ‘Slapgate’ controversy and fined match-fees to the tune of Rs 3 crore. Besides Harbhajan, Mumbai coach Lalchand Rajput was fined 50 per cent of his match fee.
The board’s three-man disciplinary panel then reviewed the report. The panel comprised of Shashank Manohar and Chirayu Amin, the former president of the Baroda Cricket Association, besides former BCCI President Sharad Pawar.
In a recent interview to Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan had expressed regret about his actions in the ‘Slapgate’ controversy. “One thing I’d want to change in my life is that incident with Sreesanth. I want to remove that incident from my career. 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,” Harbhajan had told Ashwin.
“What hurt me even after many years was when I met his daughter and I was talking to her with a lot of love and she said, ‘I don’t want to talk to you. You hit my father.’ My heart was shattered and I was on the verge of tears. I was asking myself what is the impression I’ve left on her? She must be thinking of me in a poor light, right? She sees me as the guy who hit her father. I felt so bad. I still apologise to his daughter,” he added.
For breaking news and live news updates, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Read more on Latest Sports News on India.com.
Follow Us 
By 
