New Delhi: Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh recently recalled an emotional conversation with his former India teammate S Sreesanth’s daughter over the IPL slapgate incident. Harbhajan revealed that Sreesanth’s daughter confronted him for hitting her father and refused to talk to him when they met. Harbhajan admitted he still regrets slapping Sreesanth and that it is one incident he would like to completely remove from his career.

Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth during a match between Mumbai Indians and the Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008. Harbhajan was playing for the Mumbai Indians while Sreesanth was part of the Punjab squad. Harbhajan hit Sreesanth following a verbal spat between the duo after the game and was later suspended for the remainder of the season.

On his recent appearance on R Ashwin’s YouTube show ‘Kutti Stories’, Harbhajan opened up on the slapgate incident when asked if he would remove any incident from his life. The former India spinner said that it was a mistake on his part and that he has apologised to Sreesanth on several occasions for the controversial incident.

“One thing I’d want to change in my life is that incident with Sreesanth. I want to remove that incident from my career. That is the incident I would change from my list. What transpired was wrong and I shouldn’t have done what I did. I have apologised 200 times. What I felt so bad was even years after that incident, I have been apologising every opportunity or stage I get. It was a mistake,” Harbhajan said on the show.

The former spinner, who was part of India’s 2011 ODI World Cup-winning squad along with Sreesanth, also recalled his conversation with his ex-teammate’s daughter that left him shattered. Harbhajan revealed Sreesanth’s daughter refused to talk to him when they met and reminded him that he had hit her father. Harbhajan said her words brought him to the verge of tears.

“What hurt me even after many years was when I met his daughter and I was talking to her with a lot of love and she said, ‘I don’t want to talk to you. You hit my father’. My heart was shattered and I was on the verge of tears,” revealed Harbhajan.

“I was asking myself what is the impression I’ve left on her? She must be thinking of me in a poor light, right? She sees me as the guy who hit her father. I felt so bad. I still apologise to his daughter that I can’t do anything,” he added.

Harbhajan and Sreesanth have both moved on from the controversial incident, but it continues to remain one of the most talked-about incidents in the IPL. Both former cricketers share an amicable and cordial relationship now and have continued to play together with each other in several veteran cricketers’ leagues after retirement.