Twitter goes bonkers as Modi publishes infamous Harbhajan-Sreesanth 'Slapgate' footage after 17 years

‌From match-fixing sagas that saw two teams be temporarily banned, to allegations of racism and physical on-field fights -- the Indian Premier League has seen it all in its 18 years of existence. However, few events have managed to grip the national conscience like a mythical incident in a league stage match between Rajasthan Royals and the then-named Kings XI Punjab from the very first edition of the tournament. The fixture itself was a blowout win for the Kings as they kept MI to 116 en-route to a 66-run win, but the real encounter happened after the match when Harbhajan Singh allegedly slapped Sreesanth during the post-match handshakes. However, league founder Lalit Modi has ended all specualtion on the matter and finally released footage of it when appearing as a guest on Michael Clarke's podcast 'Beyond 23'.

Sreesanth had scalped two wickets in the game, the first practically a win-confirming scalp of Shaun Pollock that was followed by raucous celebrations from the right-arm quick. Given that Sreesanth had also been involved with a bust-up with Robin Uthappa earlier in the game, tensions were already running high and the bowler's demeanour ruffled a few feathers in the opposition camp. All that culminated in Harbhajan violently flicking the back of his hand onto Sreesanth's cheek in the midst of a handshake, before charging at him again a few moments later only to be stopped by officials and his peers.

After the incident, Punjab captain Yuvraj Singh confirmed Harbhajan had come to the dressing room to offer an apology to Sreesanth, an act the spinner has since repeated on several occassions on public platforms and in the media. Sreesanth has since also revealed he has forgiven his then-Indian teammate, but Twitterati remains engrossed in the footage all the same.

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That hurts!

This video will go viral!

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TB!

That's sad!