Five years after the infamous ’slapgate’, one of the protagonists of the drama, S Sreesanth, today made an explosive claim, saying the entire incident was planned and that his former India teammate Harbhajan Singh was a “backstabbing person“.
The temperamental Sreesanth made a series of revelations on the 2008 incident on his twitter page today, creating a fresh controversy in the high-profile IPL.
“To be whr Iam ..I ve no complaints..but now I want u All to know the truth. He (Bhajji) never Slapped me. the video will show u all..wt he did,” Sreesanth wrote in a series of expletives-laden tweets.
“All blamed me for getting emotional ..??c mon who doesn’t get emotional whn u know the person who u worship is a backstabbing person Nd ..,” he tweeted.
“Disgusting ..that’s all I can say..u should get hold of the video..them u all will know te truth..wht he did is completely out of control,” he said.
Sreesanth, who is currently playing for Rajasthan Royals, demanded that the videotape of the incident be made public.
Harbhajan declined to comment on Sreesanth’s version of the incident. “No comments. I don’t want to make any comments,” Harbhajan told PTI when asked to react to Sreesanth’s claims.
Sreesanth also claimed that Harbhajan did not slap him but elbowed him.
“I want the world to c it..Whn I went to shake hands afte the match..he had lost it..he had already planned to hit me(elbow me)all his anger” he said.
“It’s not my fault at all ..Nd I keep getting compared to all this bull s##*..whn ever anything bad happens in ipl or cricket match..crazy
“Nd whn u start to c the big change in person who u trust so much..the World comes down ..that’s wht happ..;He Never slapped me,” Sreesanth added.
Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth not elbowed: Nanavati
Justice (retd) Sudhir Nanavati, who headed the ’slapgate’ inquiry, however, contradicted S Sreesanth’s claim that he was elbowed by Harbhajan Singh in the 2008 IPL incident, saying the pacer was indeed slapped by his then India teammate.
Nanavati, who was appointed by the BCCI to probe the ’slapgate’ incident, said there was no provocation from Sreesanth’s part and Harbhajan tried to slap him for the second time but was restrained by security guards.
“In the video footage, I have seen Harbhajan use the backside of his right palm to give him (Sreesanth) a slap on the right side of his face. It was clear cut, it was there to be seen in the video footage,” said Nanavati.
“He (Harbhajan) had admitted it before me, yes slap was given. My first reaction after seeing the video footage in the BCCI office was that I was shocked and surprised. What I have seen in the frame of the video was that Harbhajan after giving him a slap was coming back once again to hit him but at that time, two security personnel had stopped him,” Nanavati said.
Interestingly, Harbhajan and Sreesanth are due to square off on April 17 in Jaipur, when Rajasthan Royals play Mumbai Indians.
Sreesanth, playing for Kings XI Punjab at that time, and Harbhajan, competing for Mumbai Indians, faced off after the game, an incident that left the pacer in tears. Harbhajan was banned for the rest of the tournament, while Sreesanth was let off with a warning after disciplinary proceedings.
“He had no control over his anger..,Nd one more thing I wanna clear..he (nanavati sir ) knows the truth and the full ipl..he had lost it” Sreesanth tweeted further.
The provocation for his tirade today was a newspaper report, which reflected on the incident after the Gautam Gambhir-Virat Kohli face off in an IPL match yesterday.
”...very very disappointing...yesterday s incident with Gautam Bhai Nd virat ..was compared ???
“I must say..Iam really sorry to have takn this topic up..plss try Nd be in my place..for a minute.u will realise how I feel..it’s really bad,” said Sreesanth.