Five years after the infamous 'slapgate', one of the protagonists of the drama, S Sreesanth, has made an explosive claim, saying that the entire incident was planned and that his former India teammate Harbhajan Singh was a 'backstabber'.
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The temperamental Sreesanth made a series of revelations on the 2008 incident on his Twitter page on Friday, creating a fresh controversy in the IPL, a day after Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli were involved in an ugly on-field spat.
"To be whr Iam ..I ve no complaints..but now I want u All to know the truth.He (Bhajji)never Slapped me.the video will show u all..wt he did," Sreesanth wrote in a series of expletives-laden tweets.
"All blamed me for getting emotional ..??c mon who doesn't get emotional whn u know the person who u worship is a backstabbing person Nd ..," he tweeted.
"Disgusting ..that's all I can say..u should get hold of the video..them u all will know te truth..wht he did is completely out of control," he said.
'The truth is in the video which is with IPL'
Sreesanth, who is currently playing for Rajasthan Royals, demanded that the videotape of the incident be made public.
"I don't want Bhajji to feel bad now..I need to tell the truth to the world..wht happend was bad..it's not my fault at all..and all media ???
The pacer also claimed that Harbhajan did not slap him but elbowed him.
"I want the world to c it..Whn I went to shake hands afte the match..he had lost it..he had already planned to hit
me(elbow me)all his anger" he said.
"It's not my fault at all ..Nd I keep getting compared to all this bull s##..whn ever anything bad happens in ipl or cricket match..crazy
"Nd whn u start to c the big change in person who u trust so much..the World comes down ..that's wht happ..;He Never slapped me," Sreesanth added.
"Every one blaming me Nd always writing and talking about slap gate??it really s#s.the truth is in the video ..which is with ipl.."Harbhajan and Sreesanth are due to square off on April 17
Interestingly, Harbhajan and Sreesanth are due to square off on April 17 in Jaipur, when Rajasthan Royals play Mumbai Indians.
Sreesanth, playing for Kings XI Punjab at that time, and Harbhajan, competing for Mumbai Indians, faced off after the game, an incident that left the pacer in tears. Harbhajan was banned for the rest of the tournament, while Sreesanth was let off with a warning after disciplinary proceedings.
"He had no control over his anger..,Nd one more thing I wanna clear..he (nanavati sir ) knows the truth and the full ipl..he had lost it
"(Bhajji Never Slapped me...all I did is play the game the way I had all my life.he lost it badly ..being the captain of MUMBAI he Lost it," he claimed.
The provocation for his tirade was a newspaper report, which reflected on the incident after the Gautam Gambhir-Virat Kohli face off in an IPL match yesterday.
"...very very disappointing...yesterday s incident with Gautam Bhai Nd virat ..was compared ???
"I must say..Iam really sorry to have takn this topic up..plss try Nd be in my place..for a minute.u will realise how I feel..it's really bad," said Sreesanth.
'I was forced to say 'slapgate' was my fault'
The pacer, whose India career never quite took off despite some early promise, said the incident's videos on the internet don't reveal the truth about what actually happened.
"All the videos of YouTube making fun Nd making the incident look like Iam ::;;;|>>>###thts bad..the real video is still not out
"All this 5..6 years ..I was quite..not anymore..thr is much more thn wht u all even know..that's it," he said.
"I ve moved on but whn I keep reading all this bull###itreallu hurts..it really does..but that's enough.. anyways thnks to the media," the bowler added.
Sreesanth alleged that he was forced to say that he was at fault for the incident.
"I was asked to say tht ..it was my fault too..I was asked ..that's the truth ...it was never my fault..it's sad.really sad
"It s gonna happen.may be he(Bhajji got provoked too)no idea .why he did tht..but let me clear again ..tht was not a slapgate issue," he asserted.
'That incident was planned by a few'
Sreesanth said he was in fact warned of such an incident happening during the tournament.
"I got emotional only coz..tht incident was planned by few Nd few knew about it and warned me too but I never thought It's just tht ..it's sad to c .the media still talking about it..really feels bad..slap,thappad,,,???really..it's not wht u all know," he said.
"Thr r so many things I can't even say or discuss..I so t want to it's past..Nd I really don't want it..I love this game Nd wanna keep at it
"I don't beg Nd try to be friendly coz..that's how it's done..sorry if I see fault I ..will correct..I wi not jst keep quite," he added.
Sreesanth also justified his stoic silence on the matter for five years, saying he was scared about his international career.
"Nd yeah..all I did is to tell u all wht happend.u all should know the truth.i was scared of loosing my place. I had no support wtsoevrr
"The real video is not with me..it's been with ipl.for ages now..sorry. The real incident video..which is been kept hiding..c mon let the world see it..I wanna tell u all ..I'm really sorry to have kept quite," he said.
Sreesanth said he did not get any support despite not being at fault.
"That's whr I went wrong..most of thm r jst so so so selfish Nd it was so sad to c no one supporting me even whn all know it was not my fault," he said.
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