The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 began last week and former cricketer Virender Sehwag brought back memories of controversy from the first season.
Harbhajan, Sreesanth along with Yusuf Pathan and Virender Sehwag were part of a special episode produced by Star Sports streaming on its YouTube channel. Sehwag brought up the incident of Harbhajan Singh allegedly slapping Sreesanth.
Back in 2008, during the inaugural edition, Sreesanth was playing for King XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). Harbhajan Singh was playing for Mumbai Indians. During a match, Sreesanth was seen crying on the field and rumours spread that Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth. Since then, both players have moved on. They were seen on the same platform to commemorate the 12th anniversary of India's historic triumph in the World Cup.
During the special episode, Sreesanth talked about his friendship with Harbhajan and said they always hugged before heading to play a match. "I want to share that before playing a Test or any other match, I always hugged Bhajji pa (Harbhajan Singh). My performance always used to be better". Sehwag quickly asked if these hugs were post the slapping incident. "When did this hug trend start! Probably after the incident in Mohali."
Both players looked uncomfortable at the question and Harbhajan quickly said, "Forget it man". Sreesanth also said that it started back in 2006 and shook hands with Harbhajan who said, "People will always say something."