"Don't know why she is getting angry" - Lalit Modi reacts to S Sreesanth's wife's scathing remarks after release of 2008 IPL slapgate video

Former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi has reacted to S Sreesanth's wife Bhuvneshwari Kumari's comments over the release of the 2008 IPL slapgate incident video. He said he didn't understand the reason behind her anger. Modi added that no one had earlier asked him a question about the incident from the inaugural season of the T20 league.

Modi had released the video of Harbhajan Singh slapping Sreesanth in an IPL 2008 match at Mohali on Michael Clarke's "Beyond23 Cricket Podcast" podcast. He told IANS (via NDTV):

“I don't know why she (Sreesanth's wife Bhuvneshwari) is getting angry. I was asked a question, and I shared the truth. I can't do anything about that. I am known to speak the truth. Sree was the victim, and that's exactly what I said. No one had asked me this question earlier, so when Clarke quipped, I responded".

Bhuvneshwari Kumari had slammed Modi, following the release of the video. Writing on Instagram, she called the video release "disgusting, heartless, and inhuman.” She added that both players had moved on from the incident and questioned the need to share the video with the outside world.

“Shame on you @lalitkmodi and @michaelclarkeofficial. You people are not even human to drag up something from 2008 just for your own cheap publicity and views. Both @sreesanthnair36 and Harbhajan have long moved on, they are fathers now with school-going children, and yet you try to throw them back into an old wound. Absolutely disgusting, heartless, and inhuman," she had written in an Instagram story.

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Lalit Modi explains how he captured the incident after the game was finished

Lalit Modi told Michael Clarke on his podcast that he captured the video of Harbhajan Singh slapping Sreesanth with the help of the security cameras. He added that he was walking on the field, and the security camera captured the visual of the incident as the players shook hands.

"I was there on the field. The game was over, it was Bhajji (Harbhajan), it was Sreesanth. Cameras had shut off. One of my security cameras was on. I was walking out of the field. The players were going, thanking each other. It comes to Sreesanth and Bhajji. Bhajji just looks at him, says something, and gives him a backhander," Modi said.

Broadcaster Harsha Bhogle wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday that a few of them had seen the incident in 2008. He added that they had given their word that it would remain away from the public domain as the league was still in its first year.