Harpreet gets a closure of sorts

What's in a name, you might say. But ask Harpreet Singh Bhatia and the answer may well be "a plenty" because a similar sounding name and a wrong tweet by a news agency had denied the Chhattisgarh captain a potential IPL contract during the 2017 players' auction.

The sequence of events that led to Harpreet, a former India under-19 cricketer, being ignored by IPL franchises is as comical as it is unfortunate. Just ahead of that season's auction, another India under-19 cricketer Harmeet Singh had been arrested for driving a car onto a railway platform in Mumbai in the morning. While he was later released on bail, a news agency had tweeted from its official handle that read: "Under 19 cricketer Harpreet Singh detained for driving a car straight into Andheri railway station platform last night.”

Though the erroneous tweet was deleted and correction was issued, the damage had been done. At the conclusion of the auction, a franchise official revealed that they had mistaken Harpreet for Harmeet, who had had his share of misadventures on and off the field by that time.

Five years later, however, the 31-year-old Harpreet has a sort of closure as he was snapped up by Punjab Kings for Rs 40 lakh during the mini-auction last month.

"I remained patient for long and sometimes when you get it (opportunity) late, it feels special," Harpreet tells DH after the first day's Ranji Trophy play between Karnataka and Chhattisgarh here on Tuesday. "I never let negativity creep in, and that's probably the reason why I have made a comeback. I wasn't focussing on what was happening around me but I was concentrating on what I had to do," he adds without being prompted.

As if on a cue, you ask him about the confusion during the auction and Harpreet bares it all.

"To be honest I was hurt a lot," he begins. "You are the highest scorer (for Central Zone in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy - 211 runs at an average of 52-plus and a strike rate of over 145), two days after the tournament the auction takes place and you don't get picked. And for what? But I had no option. What I had in control was to do well in my next match so that I could back into contention again soon.

"But it took a long while for it to happen -- five years after that mix-up with my name and 10 years after I was last picked by an IPL team... But when you get things late, you understand its value more and I don't want this chance to go to waste," offers Harpreet who was a team-mate of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal in the 2010 U-19 World Cup in New Zealand.

Harpreet has been in rollicking form this season and the renewed interest in him from IPL franchises isn't a surprise. After an excellent Vijay Hazare Trophy - where he notched up scores of 50, 66, 121, 17, 120, 77 and 65 n.o. - he is the top-scorer for his team in the Ranji Trophy.

The story of Harmeet, a left-arm spinner of great promise, is even more tragic. Having drawn comparisons with the peerless Bishan Singh Bedi by Aussie great Ian Chappell, who had been impressed by the youngster's skills during India's triumphant campaign in the 2013 U-19 World Cup Down Under, Harmeet's career went awry in a spectacular way.

He made his debut for Mumbai at 17 but didn't make much headway before shifting to Tripura. In between, he also got caught in the vortex of IPL spot-fixing scandal only to be cleared later. He now plays in a Nepal T20 league for All Stars though he is far from being the star he once promised to be.