Harbhajan Singh regrets slapping S Sreesanth, says they are still brothers

Although it has been around 11 years since the infamous ‘slap-gate’ of the Indian Premier League (IPL) surfaced the headlines, the pictures of a teary-eyed S Sreesanth is still afresh in the minds of the cricket followers. Back in the early years of the IPL, Mumbai Indians were running through a lean patch in the tournament, and the then skipper of the side, Harbhajan Singh, was clearly frustrated.

After a match against the Kings XI Punjab, where Sreesanth bowled KXIP to a victory, Harbhajan Singh ended up slapping the pace bowler. The reason behind this being the over-aggressive send-offs that Sreesanth gave to the MI batsmen. While there is no actual footage of the incident, the onlookers suggest that Harbhajan had lost his cool and slapped the Kerala-born pacer.

Now, in a recent interview with BehindWoods Air, Harbhajan has finally extended his apologies to the pacer for his grave mistake. He noted that if there is something that he would want to change in his life, it would be this very mistake.

“Whatever happened with Sreesanth.. me and him on the field… a lot of people talk about that incident now. If I have to go back and rectify something in my life, I would correct that. I shouldn’t have done that,” Harbhajan told Behindwoods Air.

Soon after the news of Harbhajan’s apology broke out, the then coach of MI, Lalchand Rajput, expressed his happiness over the extended apology, as he believed it was long due.

“I am happy that Bhajji (Harbhajan) has apologised. The players are ambassadors of cricket and the national team and they should control their temper and set an example through good conduct for junior cricketers,” Rajput told the Gulf News.

It shouldn’t have happened

Adding further on the same note, Harbhajan exclaimed that the entire episode was perhaps totally uncalled for. He praised Sreesanth as a top guy and remarked that he still considers him as a brother. He extended his good wishes to the pace bowler and his family.

“That was a mistake and I am sorry about that. It shouldn’t have happened. Sreesanth is a top guy and he had so much of skill. My best wishes to Sreesanth and his wife and to their children. No matter what people say, I am still your brother,” he added further.

[interaction id=”5c403639f348526c09473565″]

Get the latest Cricket News and updates, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.