‘I’ve even blocked him on Insta’. Sreesanth-Harbhajan friendship broken beyond repair

S Sreesanth has said his friendship with Harbhajan Singh has broken beyond repair since the former spinner reopened old wounds by doing an advertisement based on the infamous slapgate incident from the 2008 season of the Indian Premier League.

Sreesanth made the admission in an interview given to a Malayalam channel. The Malayali bowler, who won two World Cups with the Indian team, said he is no longer connected to Harbhajan, with whom he was close.

“I have even blocked Harbhajan on Instagram,” Sreesanth said. “I used to say he was my brother, but until he did that ad. May God bless him and his family.”

Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth after an IPL match between the Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab in the inaugural season of the franchise T20 league. Over the years, Sreesanth and Harbhajan had reconciled, even featuring in promotional events, and projected each other as friends. However, the ad, for a popular e-commerce marketplace, released in January, left Sreesanth furious.

Immediately after the ad was out, Sreesanth accused Harbhajan of making 'a conscious choice' for monetary gain'. Now, he has made his stand clear, elaborating that Harbhajan never had a genuine friendship with him. “When one sees his (Harbhajan) interviews, they would think he is such a good man. Yes, he may be a good man. But in my opinion, he was acting all along, since my playing days with India. But Sreesanth can’t act like that.”

The slapgate incident had left Sreesanth in tears. The pacer said he considered retaliating but was held back by his teammates. “Had I hit back at Bhajji then, or even pushed him.. even our Malayalis would have blamed me. I would have got a life ban,” Sreesanth said.