Sreesanth dares Harbhajan Singh for boxing match; re-ignites slap gate incident
Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh are former Indian bowlers and represented the national team.
S. Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh are two well-known former bowlers of the Indian Cricket Team who represented the national side for a long time.
Both were also part of the ODI World Cup 2011-winning squad, in which the MS Dhoni-led side defeated Sri Lanka in the final. Harbhajan and Sreesanth have retired from all forms of cricket, with the latter still active in only foreign franchise leagues.
Notably, Harbhajan and Sreesanth’s names are associated with one of the biggest controversies in Indian cricket. In the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008, Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth after a match between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Punjab Kings (PBKS).
The incident is one of the most talked-about scandals in the IPL, despite being more than a decade old. Over the years, Harbhajan has apologised to the Kerala pacer for his actions on public platforms multiple times and Sreesanth has forgiven him. However, it looks like the incident has not faded from their minds so far.
Sreesanth challenges Harbhajan Singh for an in-ring fight
Recently, a promotional video of Harbhajan Singh went viral on social media, in which he mentioned about the slapgate incident. During an interview with Lallantop, Sreesanth was shown the video and asked about his opinions on Harbhajan’s advertisement.
Pointing to an old promotional photo of the two dressed in boxing gear, Sreesanth asked whether Harbhajan would be willing to face him in an actual fight in the boxing ring.
“This same scene, do you have the guts? Do you have the guts to come into the ring with me? Can you sign and come? Can you? I am asking him. Do you have the guts to come into the ring with me? Wearing this same gloves… This is not acting, I am smiling. You are not even smiling, I don’t know what you are doing. Let’s see. This is an open challenge,” Sreesanth said during his interaction on Lallantop.
“I am currently in the Bear Knuckle Fight League, and I am also one of the main sponsors of Conor McGregor’s video; one of my good friends sponsored it, so the promotion is also done. I am challenging you, Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh),” he added.
He also said that if Harbhajan wants to make money from the ‘Slapgate’ incident, then he too would like to profit from this controversy.
“I challenge you, Bhajji. If you have this much of a problem with the slap thing and me, and you earn this much… let me earn too. Come into the ring. I am calling you from my heart. If we have some self-respect, let’s not do ads and all that. In a genuine way, for all the Malayalis and all the Sardars, please come. I am waiting,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Harbhajan was one of the commentators in IPL 2026 last month. The 45-year-old has not publicly responded to Sreesanth’s latest challenge. It remains to be seen if the remarks lead to another exchange between the two former cricketers.
What is IPL slapgate incident?
In IPL 2008, Harbhajan Singh slapped S Sreesanth after the match between Mumbai Indians and S Sreesanth. He was banned from the tournament over his actions. This is known as IPL slapgate incident.
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Vikas Singh Derek is a core cricket-lover since childhood and has always followed the sport both in his personal and professional life. He started his school life by watching cricket at home with family. Later, he played cricket on the field at local clubs during college. After his Master's in Journalism from Mumbai, he followed his passion by covering cricket news across various digital media. Since 2015, he has been an aspiring sports journalist and cricket content writer with over 50K+ articles.