Published: Sep 03, 2025, 07:32 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 03, 2025, 07:32 PM (IST)
The Slapgate incident is remembered as one of the darkest moments in IPL history. It happened in 2008 when Harbhajan Singh, playing for Mumbai Indians, slapped Kings XI Punjab pacer S Sreesanth after a heated exchange during a match. For years, fans only knew about the incident through reports, as the video was never shown. Seventeen years later, former IPL chairman Lalit Modi and ex-Australia captain Michael Clarke finally released the footage, bringing the infamous moment back into the spotlight.
In a recent cricket podcast, Lalit Modi discussed the Slapgate incident with former Australia captain Michael Clarke. During the chat, Modi also showed Clarke the unseen video of the incident, which was later released along with the interview.
Former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa has blasted out on the release of unseen footage and stated Michael Clarke as responsible for this whole act. ”That whole Slapgate thing that happened in the IPL. What the f*** man? How does someone get away with stuff like that?” Uthappa said on the Kim-Appa show.
“Now, imagine we put up a clip of something that an Australian did that was offensive, that was kept under wraps out of respect for that whole situation, to save the respect of that situation, which is an impulsive, bad decision that a human being made… Now that you have gone and interviewed someone, and you have got access to the file, do you think you have the right to publish it, put that into the world, and make those two people go through that whole emotion, that raw emotion, 20 years later?” he added.
“We all make mistakes, but are we going to keep putting it out there to make people go through the embarrassment of the wrong choices the person has made? For me, it’s guys who aren’t brown-skinned who get away with it a lot more. Today, we are speaking about Sunny G having an opinion on what other countries speak about Indian cricket. But what about this? Imagine the human implications of this… You can’t treat people like crap just because it’ll get you more views,” he said.
