Harmeet Singh to Play For Vidarbha

MUMBAI/NAGPUR: Tired of being ignored by Mumbai's selectors despite starring in India's Under-19 World Cup triumph in Australia, left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh has chosen to play for Vidarbha.
It is learnt that last week, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) issued the no-objection certificate (NOC) to the bowler, clearing the decks for Harmeet's switch. The talented 20-year-old is currently playing for Rajasthan Royals.
"Last year too, his father had approached me to let his son play for another domestic side (Haryana). I was able to convince him that we would give him opportunities here. This time they insisted again and we relented, because we have the boy's future in mind. If he gets an opportunity to play somewhere else, it will be good for his career," MCA joint secretary PV Shetty told TOI on Friday.
"With so many left-arm spinners around ( Iqbal Abdulla, Ankit Chavan and Vishal Dabholkar), he was not getting an opportunity to play for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. He also suffered from an injury last year and couldn't play much. His father too is shifting to Nagpur so we had to give him the green signal," said MCA joint secretary Nitin Dalal.
Harmeet's case is another example of Mumbai losing out on a bright prospect due to a lack of vision. Harmeet's Ranji debut, in 2009, saw him take seven wickets against Himachal Pradesh with impressive turn and bounce.
He was just 16 then. Subsequently, he was strangely ignored and has managed to play just five first-class games in which he has taken 25 wickets.
He led Mumbai U-19 team to the Cooch Behar Trophy in the 2011-12 season before sizzling at the U-19 World Cup, returning an economy rate of 3.02.
So impressed was former Australia skipper and renowned commentator Ian Chappell that he felt Harmeet should to be fast-tracked into Test cricket.
The tweaker buttressed his case for a Ranji recall by picking up four wickets in the Irani Cup in September last year. Around Mumbai's first Ranji game last year in November, Harmeet suffered an injury and could never break into the team.
There have been allegations of indiscipline against him in the past but all that could have been sorted out with a bit of mentoring.
"He suffered a finger injury but was subsequently fit. Yet, he was excluded from the Mumbai U-25 team for almost the whole season. We lost out on a cricketer who grew up on our maidans. If he goes on to play for India he will be known as a Vidarbha cricketer," rued an MCA official.
TNN