WATCH: Lalit Modi reveals unseen footage of Harbhajan-Sreesanth ‘slapgate’ incident

IPL founder and former chairman Lalit Modi has, for the first time, released unseen footage of the infamous Harbhajan Singh–S Sreesanth altercation from the league’s inaugural season in 2008.

During a conversation with Australia’s World Cup-winning captain Michael Clarke on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast, Modi shared the unedited clip that captured the controversial moment.

"The game was over, cameras were shut off. One of my security cameras was on. It caught the incident between Sreesanth and Bhajji (Harbhajan), and Bhajji just gives him a back-hander. Here's the video. I hadn’t released it for so long—we now have 18 years behind us,” Modi revealed.

The incident, which took place after a match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), quickly became one of the darkest moments in IPL history and came to be known as “Slapgate.”

Recently, Harbhajan Singh himself admitted that the incident remains the biggest regret of his career. 

Speaking on R Ashwin’s YouTube show Kutti Stories, former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh admitted regret over the infamous 2008 IPL incident involving Sreesanth.

"One thing I'd want to change in my life is that incident with Sreesanth. What transpired was wrong and I shouldn't have done it. I apologised 200 times, and even years later I still find myself saying sorry whenever the topic comes up. It was a mistake."

The veteran cricketer also recalled an emotional moment that continues to haunt him.

"What hurt me most was when I met his daughter and she refused to talk to me, saying, ‘I don’t want to talk to you, you hit my father.’ My heart was shattered. I kept asking myself what impression I had left on her—she must only see me as the man who hit her father. I still apologise to his daughter," he added.

The “Slapgate” saga remains one of the most infamous episodes in IPL’s history, a stark contrast to the tournament’s glittering rise as cricket’s richest league.