Key Points

The Indian Premier League witnessed its first major on-field controversy when allegations surfaced that Harbhajan had slapped Sreesanth following a match in which the Punjab Kings (then known as Kings XI Punjab) defeated the Mumbai Indians in 2008.

At the time of the incident, the broadcast had cut to a commercial break, so viewers missed the actual altercation. When the live feed resumed, shocking visuals of a tearful Sreesanth on the field stunned the cricketing world and sparked widespread outrage.

According to a never-before-seen video that later went viral on social media, then-Mumbai Indians captain Harbhajan Singh struck Sreesanth with a backhanded slap under the eye during the post-match handshake between the two teams.

The incident provoked an angry reaction from Sreesanth, who charged toward Harbhajan, prompting a similar response from the spinner. A physical brawl was narrowly avoided as Irfan Pathan and Mahela Jayawardene quickly intervened to separate the two players.

The shocking incident caught the media's attention and sparked widespread criticism of Harbhajan's behaviour, and he later apologised for the physical altercation. The incident led to a disciplinary hearing and Harbhajan was banned for the rest of the season. The spinner Harbhajan was later banned by the BCCI for five ODIs for slapping Sreesanth.

Lalit Modi, who was the chairman and commissioner of the IPL at that time, shared the clip of the incident after 17 years, during an interview with former Australian captain Michael Clarke on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast.

"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," said Modi, before showing the footage of the actual incident.

"I hadn’t put it out for so long. We have 18 years behind us for this,” he said.

He later shared the footage on his social media, with the caption, "The famous slap in my podcast with @MClarke23 on #beyond23 - part 3 of my podcast. I love @harbhajan_singh - but after 17 years it was time to reveal it. Lots and lots more to reveal but that will now only be in the movie that’s in the works supervised by @SnehaRajani on my behalf who ran @Sony India as its head of marketing in my time as chairman and commissioner of @IPL."

- IANS