Former India cricketer R Ashwin has reacted to former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi unveiling the hidden video of Harbhajan Singh slapping Sreesanth during the IPL 2008 on Michael Clarke’s podcast and stated that the issue should be discussed minimally, as both players have moved on.
Lalit Modi, who has been banished from Indian cricket, unveiled the footage on Clarke’s Beyond 23 Cricket podcast, reigniting emotions that were buried for 17 years. Originally, the exact moment Harbhajan had slapped Sreesanth was not televised, and only the aftermath was shown on TV.
However, Lalit Modi shared the actual footage of Harbhajan’s backhanded slap to Sreesanth and the two players being separated by their teammates as they lunged at one another. However, the reactions to the video surfacing after 17 years have been mixed.
Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has referred to the incident as the "head of the anaconda that keeps on rising" and recommended that the matter be handled as little as possible, pointing out that both players have moved on. Harbhajan Singh described the use of the tape as something with a selfish goal.
“It’s the head of Anaconda that keeps on rising. In the modern era, you have video footage of everything and everywhere. So this kind of resurfacing will keep happening. But I feel, see, this moment is not the proudest in both players’ lives. Why raise it again? Why aggravate it unnecessarily? Sreesanth’s wife also put out a post. I think we should address it minimally,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
“See, it’s done. Harbhajan spoke about the same in our podcast earlier and how he felt. You have done something wrong, and you have to live with it. There is no two ways about it. But we move past it, right? Some might have done something similar in the confines of their homes, and that’s why we don’t know of it. There is no point in moral policing an issue that is done and dated. They have apologized and moved past it, and I think the rest of the world should do it too,” Ashwin added.
Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth’s wife, Bhuvneshwari Sreesanth, have both slammed Clarke and Lalit Modi for reigniting old wounds.
