The infamous slapgate controversy between Harbhajan Singh and S. Sreesanth has re-entered into the limelight in the current Indian Premier League (IPL) as Sreesanth took jibes at his former team-mate.
In the first season of the IPL in 2008, Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth in a post-match moment, resulting in a long suspension and one of the earliest controversies of the IPL. In recent years, the pair had said that they were over the incident.
But S. Sreesanth alleges that an advertisement that Harbhajan appeared in recently turned the incident into a joke. He claims this was inappropriate. While he had forgiven Harbhajan personally, portraying the incident as comic, or making money from it, particularly without his consent, has hampered their relationship once again.
S. Sreesanth also claimed that Harbhajan Singh made nearly ₹1 crore from the ad and even requested him to share it in social media, which he termed insensitive. He has called it the “last straw”, implying that while he has forgiven Harbhajan, the incident is again a source of anger.
“I have never spoken about Bhajji in any interview. This is going to be the first time. Until recently there were no problems, but he made an ad about it once again. He made around Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore off it. He then called me and asked me to put a story on it. I told him, ‘I’ll forgive but I’ll never forget’. If someone wrongs you, you should forgive them but never forget. If you forget, they will do the same thing again. He is the biggest example for that. There is no doubt about that,” said Sreesanth to Mathrubhumi.
According to S. Sreesanth most recent comments, authenticity is more important to him than the previous incident. The discrepancy between what he perceives to be Harbhajan’s private intent and public actions seems to be the source of his frustration. This, in Sreesanth’s opinion, makes those earlier actions seem more like well-managed optics than sincere regret.
“I have no relationship with that person. I used to call him a brother. But in that last 1 or 2 months he did that ad and now I have blocked him on Instagram. My parents have taught me to forgive but never forget. I don’t have any complaints against him, nor do I need him. May God bless him and his family. In many interviews, even with Ashwin, he talked about my daughter. People will think oh what a great person he is. He might be a great person. But for me from my time playing for India to now, in my opinion, it’s all an act. That act is something Sreesanth doesn’t accept,” said Sreesanth.
