Mistaken identity cost me IPL spot says Harpreet Singh

Indian cricketer Harpreet Singh has revealed that he is mentally disturbed after false reports in the media about his arrest cost him an IPL spot.

On the day of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction on 20 February, the 25-year-old was hopeful of getting picked up by one of the franchises ahead of the 10<sup>th edition of the tournament.

However, reports emerged that he had been arrested for driving his car on the platform of a railway station in Andheri, Mumbai.

It was later revealed that Harmeet Singh, part of India's Under-19 World Cup winning side in 2012, was the one arrested, and not Harpreet Singh.

The damage was done, however, as the media that had published Harpreet's picture with the reports. The publications corrected their stories a day later, with some correcting them only on 22 February.

Harpreet – who was previously with Kolkata Knight Riders and the now-defunct Pune Warriors – says the whole episode cost him an IPL spot.

"I'm mentally disturbed," Harpreet said as quoted on Cricket.com. "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."

According to The Indian Express, an unnamed franchise was interested in Harpreet until the incorrect reports emerged.

"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," the official said as quoted on The Indian Express. "But later, when the auction got over, we came to know it was Harmeet and not Harpreet."