Harbhajan singh controversies: The slapgate controversy of former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh has once again come into the discussion. IPL founder Lalit Modi shared a video of the controversy between Harbhajan and Sreesanth in 2008, in which Bhajji slapped Sreesanth after the IPL match. Bhajji not only got into this controversy during his cricket career, but he has also clashed with foreign players on the field. Let’s know about the five biggest controversies of Harbhajan Singh.

Harbhajan caught in the monkey dispute

When the Indian team visited Australia in 2008, Andrew Symonds accused Bhajji of making racial comments. Symonds said that Harbhajan called him Monkey (Monkey). In this case, the referee convicted Bhajji and he was banned for three matches. At the same time, after the ban on Harbhajan, Team India, who went on a tour of Australia under the captaincy of Anil Kumble, opposed playing the rest of the match and said that if the ban was not withdrawn from Bhajji, then the team would return to India after canceling the tour. This decision of Team India was also supported by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The case of this dispute broke out between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds reached the Sydney Court. In this, an appeal was made against the ban of three matches on Bhajji. The Sydney Court decided in favor of Harbhajan Singh and the court said that no such evidence has been found, which can be assumed that Harbhajan Singh has made any colorful remarks. With this, the ban of three matches was also removed from Bhajji. But instead he was fined 50 percent match fees.

Controversy with Ricky Ponting also

Harbhajan Singh joined Team India for the first time in 1998 at the age of 17. Bhajji was taken in the series against Australia. In this match being played in Sharjah, Harbhajan Singh stumped Ricky Ponting. After taking Ponting’s wicket, Harbhajan indicated him to go to the pavilion. Seeing this gesture of Harbhajan, Potting moved towards him, but then returned without saying anything. When Harbhajan Singh did this, he was banned for a match. Along with this, the ICC also imposed a fine.

Fight with Shoaib Akhtar

During the India-Pakistan match in Asia Cup 2010, there was a clash between Harbhajan Singh and Shoaib Akhtar. In the 47th over of this match, there was an argument between Bhajji and Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, after which Bhajji hit a six off Akhtar’s ball. India won this match by 3 wickets and the winning shot also came from the bat of Harbhajan Singh.

Sreesanth was slapped

In IPL 2008, Harbhajan Singh slapped Sreesanth. At that time Harbhajan used to play for Mumbai Indians and Sreesanth for Kings XI Punjab. Punjab defeated Mumbai in this match. Sreesanth once told the controversy that he had told Harbhajan that ‘Punjab will defeat Mumbai, Punjab will defeat Mumbai’. At the same time, after this match, Harbhajan hit Sreesanth a backhand slap and the video of this has now come in front of people after 17 years. Harbhajan Singh has told that he has apologized to Sreesanth several times for this incident.

Harbhajan advertised for liquor company

Harbhajan Singh was trapped in 2006 by advertising for a liquor company. In this advertisement, Bhajji did not even wear a turban, which was strongly opposed by the people of the Sikh community. Along with this, objected to advertising for the liquor company. After this advertisement, Harbhajan Singh was so criticized that he had to remove the advertisement. After this, this Indian cricketer apologized for hurting the feelings of the people.

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Harbhajan Singh slapped S Sreesanth, this dispute has been alive in the minds of cricket fans for years. So far no video of it was revealed, but former Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi has finally released the video of Harbhajan’s slap (Harbhajan Singh Slap Sreesanth Video). But what happened on the ground at that time, and why did Harbhajan slap Sreesanth.

Why did Harbhajan slap?

This is later in IPL 2008, when the match was played between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). In that match, Punjab had won a big win of 66 runs. Harbhajan Singh captained in the first 3 matches of the tournament, but Mumbai lost all three matches. Actually, Sreesanth took 2 wickets in that match and was seen celebrating the wicket in a very aggressive manner. Troubled by this aggression, Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth.

The video revealed shows that after the match, when both the teams were handing the handshake, Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth’s cheek with reverse. The Punjab team complained against Harbhajan, after which the match referee found Harbhajan guilty of misbehavior and was banned from the rest of the tournament. Along with this, he did not get the salary of the entire season.

Who released the video

Recently, former IPL chairman Lalit Modi, while discussing with former Australian cricketer Michael Clarke, telecasted the video of Harbhajan Singh slapping Sreesanth. This video has created panic in the cricket world.

A Never Seen Before Clip of Harbhajan Singh Slapping Sreesanth in IPL 2008 Match
Rarest clip is out now!
pic.twitter.com/nf9quafsnc

– Bruce Wayne (@_Bruce__007) August 29, 2025

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Watch: For the first time, Harbhajan’s video of slapping Sreesanth came out, there was a fierce ruckus