Engineer reacts to Harbhajan-Sreesanth's controversial video from IPL 2008
Updated On: 01 September, 2025 07:44 AM IST | Mumbai | Clayton Murzello
Like many other things in cricket, it was done in the heat of the moment. Harbhajan is a good friend. We move on,” signed off Engineer
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Farokh Engineer
Farokh Engineer, 87, who was match referee in the 2008 IPL game, where India’s star spinner Harbhajan Singh and then Mumbai Indians’s skipper, slapped S Sreesanth, Kings XI Punjab’s India pacer, is surprised that the footage of the incident has surfaced 17 years later. “I’m surprised that the footage has emerged after all these years. As match referee for that particular match, I maintained confidentiality throughout and didn’t speak about the contents of the incident even to the best of my friends in the media,” Engineer told mid-day from his Lancashire home on Sunday.
Last week, IPL’s then commissioner Lalit Modi while speaking on a podcast with former Australia captain Michael Clarke, released the video that showed Harbhajan striking the fast bowler following which both players were seen separated by their teammates. Harbhajan was banned for all the remaining 11 matches.
Engineer is as gregarious and supportive to the media as they come, but his lips were zipped when it came to details of the unsavoury incident which took place after the April 25, 2008 game in Mohali, where the hosts won by 66 runs. “I had a job to do as match referee and I believe I did it [well] with dignified silence. It’s a thing of the past and I’m sure both players have long buried their differences. Like many other things in cricket, it was done in the heat of the moment. Harbhajan is a good friend. We move on,” signed off Engineer.
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