(Source: Express Archive)
Perhaps proving that the ‘slapgate’ controversy is truly history, spinner Harbhajan Singh wished former India fast bowler S Sreesanth on turning 37 on Thursday.
On his official Instagram account, Singh wrote: “Happy birthday Shenta @sreesanth36 Have a good year.”
Happy birthday Shenta @sreesanth36 have a good year..
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) February 6, 2020
In April 2008, Singh and Sreesanth made headlines when the spinner slapped the fast bowler after a match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab.
However, the duo later said that they had sorted out their issues. At an event, Singh said, “Between the two of us, we had a spat but we sorted out the issue on the same night. It’s not that we have been avoiding each other.”
Sreesanth has said that he intends to return to cricket after the ban on him playing the sport ends. BCCI ombudsman Justice (Retd) DK Jain reduced Sreesanth’s ban to seven years, and it will expire on September 13, 2020. The 36-year-old was initially banned for life over his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal.
In a freewheeling interview with the Indian Express, Sreesanth said he will stand in the 2024 national elections as BJP candidate and defeat Congress’s Shashi Tharoor. “I am a huge fan of his as a person who had stood by me but I will defeat him in the elections in Thiruvananthapuram,” he says with a smile. “No doubt about it.”
There’s also a web-series about Sreesanth’s life, an autobiography, couple of movies that he is about to wrap up shooting and one final crack at cricket. “My mother and father will be there, my wife has been visualising the moment for a long time, so will be my children,” he had said.