IPL 2017 Auction: Mistaken identity, irresponsible reporting cost Harpreet Singh lucrative deal

New Delhi: A budding Indian cricketer, Harpreet Singh Bhatia has been forced to deal with a cruel injustice after his name was irresponsibly associated with a crime he has committed.

Shocking details of how Harpreet lost a possible lucrative Indian Premier League deal emerged days after irreparable harms have already been done to his name.

According to reports, news agencies goofed up and mistook him for Harmeet Singh, who was detained and later released on bail for driving his car on Andheri Railway station platform on Monday (February 20) – the day of IPL auction.

Harpreet, the Madhya Pradesh batsman, remained unsold even though he was one of the most consistent cricketers in domestic circles.

The Indian Express quoted a franchise representative saying that the incorrect report about the arrest have effectively killed the prospects of picking Harpreet.

“We wanted to buy him, but as news came of Harpreet’s arrest, we decided not to do so since it would give the franchise a bad image. But later, when the auction got over, we came to know it was Harmeet and not Harpreet,” said a franchise official.

On the day of the auction, a reputed news agency tweeted, "Under 19 cricketer Harpreet Singh detained for driving a car straight into Andheri railway station platform last night.” It was however subsequently corrected.

Another agency also wrongly named Harpreet in its initial report, but later corrected the mistake.

“I’m mentally disturbed… Mera naam toh kharab ho gaya na (I have got a bad name). How can one clear that? I am getting calls from everyone asking what have you done. I was hoping to be picked up at the IPL auction… When my name came, the franchises must have felt why take a player who is in police custody. I am not bothered about IPL now, it’s gone. But even if you run a search on my name on Google, the first thing that comes up is that I was arrested,” Harpreet told The Indian Express.