September 1, 2025

Remember the spicy slapgate drama from IPL 2008? The moment when Harbhajan Singh slapped S Sreesanth shocked Indian cricket fans! For 17 years, the exact details stayed hidden in the archives. But last week, Lalit Modi, the IPL's former chairman, brought back this sizzling moment by releasing the video during Michael Clarke’s Beyond23 Cricket Podcast. Now, everyone finally saw what really happened! The clip shows Harbhajan hitting Sreesanth with a backhand slap, leaving the bowler and the spectators stunned. Since then, Sreesanth’s wife expressed anger, posting a fiery Instagram story blasting Modi and Clarke for sharing the footage. This reaction seems like just the beginning of a storm that could turn very messy. The legendary Farokh Engineer, who was the match referee during that thrilling match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab on April 25, 2008, has also spoken out. He remained silent about the incident for all these years, keeping details confidential. In an interview with mid-day, Engineer confessed, "I'm surprised that the footage has emerged after all these years. As match referee for that particular match, I maintained confidentiality throughout and didn't speak about the contents of the incident even to the best of my friends in the media." Engineer added, "I had a job to do as match referee and I believe I did it [well] with dignified silence. It’s a thing of the past, and I’m sure both players have long buried their differences. Like many other things in cricket, it was done in the heat of the moment. Harbhajan is a good friend. We move on." Despite this clash, Harbhajan and Sreesanth later played together peacefully and even celebrated India's 2011 World Cup win hand in hand. Harbhajan apologized several times, while Sreesanth sometimes joked about the slapgate. But now that the video has surfaced after nearly two decades, old memories are stirred up and the cricket world feels the heat again! Will this ignite fresh controversies or will they truly move past this? Only time will tell. For now, fans are glued to the drama unraveling from IPL’s colorful past. Stay tuned for more cricket news and juicy updates from your favorite players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Shubman Gill!

Read More at Hindustantimes →

Tags: Harbhajan singh, S sreesanth, Slapgate, Ipl 2008, Lalit modi, Farokh engineer,