Having spent sleepless nights ever since his name cropped up in the IPL spot fixing scandal, young left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh finally heaved a sigh of relief on Friday with the disciplinary committee of the BCCI deciding to close the case in the absence of evidence against him.
“I do not have words to describe this feeling. The burden is finally off my back,” an elated Harmeet told this newspaper.
“My family members are quite relaxed and happy. We will return to Mumbai tomorrow (Saturday),” he added.
In reply to the show cause noticed issued to him by BCCI on September 4, Harmeet denied that he failed to report about this to the BCCI or its designated anti-corruption unit headed by Ravi Sawani. He had also said he did now know that three of his Rajasthan Royals teammates were involved in spot-fixing.
Interestingly, with Mumbai’s frontline spinner Ankeet Chavan getting a life ban from the BCCI and veteran spinner Ramesh Powar opting to play for Rajasthan, Harmeet, who had decided to play for Vidarbha this season has now changed his stance and said he will represent Mumbai.
He now faces competition with left-arm spinners Iqbal Abdulla and Vishal Dabholkar. Harmeet made an impressive Ranji debut claiming seven wickets against Himachal Pradesh and took 25 wickets in five first-class games. He was also a member of India’s U-19 World Cup winning squad.
Meanwhile, the MCA said that Harmeet would be allowed to play for Mumbai if he wished to. “He asked for an NOC from us but if he wishes to play for Mumbai he can do so by giving it to us in writing,” said MCA joint secretary Nitin Dalal.