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Cricket Players‘Sreesanth’s daughter told me, I don't want to talk to you; you hit my father': Harbhajan Singh recalls IPL ‘slapgate’
During the inaugural 2008 edition of the IPL, Harbhajan Singh, playing for Mumbai Indians slapped Kings XI Punjab’s S Sreesanth at the end of a league fixture.
Harbhajan Singh recently appeared on R Ashwin’s popular YouTube podcast, where the 45-year-old opened up on his career in an honest and straightforward conversation. Starting from his early cricket years to retirement, he spoke about a variety of topics and even opened up on the controversial altercation with S Sreesanth during the inaugural edition of IPL.
During IPL 2008, Harbhajan, who was representing MI, slapped Sreesanth, who was playing for Kings XI Punjab at the end of a league match. In reaction, the BCCI suspended the spinner for the remaining games.
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Speaking to Ashwin, Harbhajan revealed the incident with his former teammate was one thing he would love ‘to change in his life’. He said, “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. We all make mistakes and we hope and try to never repeat such mistakes. He was my teammate and we were playing together. Yes, in that game we were opponents. But it shouldn’t have gone to that level where we behave in such a manner. So yeah, that was my fault and the only fault of his was that he provoked me, but that’s okay actually. However, what I did was not okay. I said, ‘Sorry’.”
Harbhajan Singh reveals conversation with S Sreesanth's daughter
He went on to reveal, “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 that I can’t do anything."
“I keep telling her, ‘but if there’s anything I can do to make you feel better and make you think I’m not that kind of person, please tell me’. I wish when she grows up, she doesn’t see me in the same light. And think her uncle will always be with her and extend any kind of support he can. That’s why I want to remove that chapter,” he added.
