Sreesanth sensationally reveals on 'begging’ BCCI not to ban Harbhajan Singh in IPL 2008

The inaugural season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) launched to a roaring success in 2008. However, the slap-gate controversy between S Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh became one of the biggest talking points of the season and a subject of negative public and media commentary. The incident prompted the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to launch an active investigation and they decided to ban the then Mumbai Indians captain for the remainder of the opening IPL season.

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Harbhajan slaps Sreesanth: Pacer makes a startling revelation about IPL 2008 incident

S Sreesanth was recently involved in a Facebook live session with CricketAddictor. He opened up about the IPL 2008 incident by saying that the “media took it to the next level”. S Sreesanth claimed that due to Sachin Tendulkar’s timely intervention, the matter between him and Harbhajan Singh was resolved on the very same night. He added that he did not want Harbhajan to get banned and admitted to pleading for the same in front of the BCCI-appointed commissioner Sudhindra Nanavati.

S Sreesanth said there came a time when he was “literally crying and begging” in front of the commissioner, telling him “not to ban or do anything” with Harbhajan Singh. The pacer recalled into saying that he always considered the Indian off-spinner as his 'brother' and he did not want “anything to be taken away” from the veteran. S Sreesanth added that he emphasised the importance of Harbhajan Singh for the Indian team by describing him as a “match-winner”, who has taken hat-tricks and many wickets for India in crucial matches or situations.

However, Harbhajan was eventually banned by the BCCI for the entire IPL 2008 season, which included 11 matches for Mumbai Indians and according to Hindustan Times, he had lost ₹2.94 crore as per the value of his contract with the team back then.

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Harbhajan slaps Sreesanth: How the two buried the hatchet

S Sreesanth spoke about the impact the incident had on Harbhajan Singh. He said the spinner has changed a lot since then. The right-arm fast bowler added that Harbhajan Singh has even publicly apologised to him.

After IPL 2008, the two cricketers put the matters to rest and resumed their Team India duties with full effect. Both S Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh have been involved in some memorable victories for the ‘Men in Blue’ together. While they were crucial members of the 2007 T20 World Cup winning line-up prior to the launch of IPL, they also featured in India’s famous victory at the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup.

S Sreesanth among probables for Kerala

S Sreesanth is currently preparing himself in a bid to be available for selection for Kerala in the 2020-21 Ranji Trophy season. His seven-year ban for spot-fixing charges, which was imposed in 2013 by the BCCI, will come to an end this September. S Sreesanth has already played 27 Tests, 53 ODIs and 10 T20Is since his debut in 2005

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Image credits: PTI