S. Sreesanth has claimed that he has cut all ties with former India teammate Harbhajan Singh after the latter made money from an ad on the infamous slapgate controversy.
In the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League in 2008, Harbhajan - skipper of Mumbai Indians - had slapped Kings XI Punjab pacer Sreesanth at the end of a game in Mohali. The off-spinner was banned for the rest of the season and five ODIs.
While the complete video of the incident was released last year by former IPL chairman Lalit Modi, the two players seemed to have made peace. However, Sreesanth’s latest remarks indicate that the saga is far from over.
In an interview with Mathrubhumi, a Malayalam news outlet, Sreesanth said, “I have never spoken about Bhajji (Harbhajan) in an interview like this before. Recently, he even made an ad about it (the slapgate incident) and earned money, something like 80 lakhs or one crore rupees.”
“Then he called me and told me, ‘Dude, you should put it as Instagram story.’ I said, ‘Forgive, but don’t forget.’”
“If someone does something wrong against us, we can forgive them but we shouldn’t forget. If we forget, the same person will do the same mistake to us again. He is the biggest example of that.”
Sreesanth also revealed that he is not in touch with Harbhajan anymore. “I have no connection with him. I used to always say he was like a brother. But after he did an ad about a month or two ago, I even blocked him on Instagram,” he said.
“My parents have taught me to forgive but never forget. I don’t have any complaints against him, nor do I need him. May God bless him and his family. In many interviews, even with Ashwin (Ravichandran Ashwin), he talked about my daughter. People will think oh what a great person he is. He might be a great person. But for me, from my time playing for India to now, in my opinion, it’s all an act.”
Published on Apr 25, 2026