Harbhajan Singh expressed regret after slapping Sreesanth in IPL 2008, recalls Dominic Thornely
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Dominic Thornely, former Mumbai Indians player, has revealed that Harbhajan Singh had expressed his remorse in the dressing room, over slapping Sreesanth after Mumbai’s loss to KXIP. Singh was the captain of the Mumbai team but then he was suspended for the rest of the first season of the IPL.
The Indian Premier League as always been about the excitement, action and drama. The 10th fixture of the 2008 IPL, i.e. the inaugural season, had all of the above-mentioned ingredients, but especially the drama, as Dominic Thornely recalls. The former New South Wales all-rounder, who only played six games in IPL 2008 after being incorporated as a last-minute addition, recalled a rather infamous episode from a game against Yuvraj Singh’s KXIP.
Sreesanth, representing Punjab, was seen in tears after they won the game and being consoled by his teammates. It was then revealed that Harbhajan Singh, who was fuming after he was dismissed, went and slapped Sreesanth after the game ended. Thornely was one of the close witnesses of the sad incident. He claimed that he was rather shocked because Harbhajan has assured that he would calm down. However, the veteran spinner had expressed regret in the dressing room after the said incident, according to the Aussie.
"Harbhajan had just got dismissed and was very upset when he came and sat next to me in the dug-out. We were eight-down and about to lose by a big margin. I just told him it was too early in the tournament to get frustrated and that he as captain should remain upbeat. He looked at me and said that's the right call and we should keep our calm and composure.
"Lo and behold, 5 minutes later, we've lost our last two wickets and the players are shaking hands. There's a bit of a kerfuffle and the slap happens. I was 4 players behind them. And I was like how did that escalate so quickly? Harbhajan was upset later in the hotel and was like 'I shouldn't have done that'."
Following the incident, Harbhajan was suspended from the rest of the IPL season and Shaun Pollock was named captain.
