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The BCCI disciplinary committee’s decision to exonerate Harmeet Singh of wrongdoing in the IPL spot-fixing controversy has come as a “huge relief” for the Mumbai left-arm spinner who turned 21 last week.”Obviously it’s a huge relief,” Harmeet told ESPNcricinfo from Delhi. “More importantly, I am happy that the truth has come out. I had always maintained that I have had no role to play in all these activities. And I am thankful to the disciplinary committee for taking my honest stance into consideration.”Harmeet, who had appeared before Delhi Police in July after his name was dragged into the spot-fixing controversy by a bookie who was arrested, said Friday’s hearing was “easy and comfortable”. “There was no pressure on to say things. They knew my version [as per Sawani’s report] but just wanted to get some of the things clarified.”After having impressed the likes of Ian Chappell during India’s triumphant Under-19 World Cup campaign in 2012, Harmeet has been in the news for unwanted reasons over the past three months, something that he describes as a “bad phase”. However, at no point did he let his circumstance get the better of him, Harmeet said: “I have not stopped training even for one day, ever since I came back [to Mumbai] after giving my statement to the police. I know the only thing that would help people forget this episode is once I start performing on the field, and I am ready for that.”The spot-fixing episode had also left Harmeet in danger of missing out on the domestic season. Following his inability to break into Mumbai’s Ranji squad last season, Harmeet had sought an NOC during the off-season from the Mumbai Cricket Association after being approached by the Vidarbha Cricket Association. However, VCA decided to put their offer on hold once media reports indicating Harmeet’s alleged links with the spot-fixing scandal appeared.Now, Harmeet said the MCA welcomed him “back into the fold” and he was “looking forward to working hard for a month and a half and being a regular in Mumbai’s team”. It won’t be surprising if Harmeet replaces Ankeet Chavan – his Mumbai senior who was the team’s leading spinner last year but was banned for life on Friday for spot-fixing – as the side’s primary spin option in the forthcoming domestic season.

Kumar Sangakkara met with the SLC executive committee on Tuesday evening to discuss whether he would represent Kandurata Maroons or Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Champions League, but no decision has been made yet. SLC remains hopeful that Sangakkara will play for Kandurata, and has begun a discussion with Sunrisers regarding Sangakkara’s release.”What we told Kumar at the meeting was that we would like him to play for the local team,” SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said. “We have told the franchise we would like Kumar to play for the local team as well.”Ranatunga also said Sangakkara was “happy to play for Kandurata,” but stopped short of confirming he would appear for his local team. Champions League organisers had confirmed on Monday that players who do not play for their IPL team in the tournament do not breach any contracts, although they do take a significant pay cut.Sangakkara stands to lose $140,000 from his $700,000 IPL salary if he opts out of playing for the Sunrisers and the board’s correspondence with the franchise is understood to include a request to mitigate this penalty. Whether Sunrisers are content to allow Sangakkara to play for Kandurata but still pay him his full salary may be dependent on whether Sangakkara shapes as a major cog in their tournament strategy.SLC will hope Sunrisers did not plan to play Sangakkara in their preferred XI, and that they will be swayed by the prospect of retaining the $150,000 sum that a foreign franchise must pay a players’ qualifying home team, if he plays for the foreign team in the Champions League.Despite its dire financial situation, SLC has seemed unconcerned about receiving this payment and Ranatunga confirmed the board was happy to effectively incur that loss.Sangakkara is crucial to Kandurata’s hopes in the tournament as he was their most experienced player in the domestic competition, and is also capable of providing leadership support to young captain Lahiru Thirimanne. He has also been in the limited-overs form of his life in the past three months, in which he has revealed a new, hyper-aggressive facet to his batting, borne out through an unprecedented range of strokes.In contrast, Sangakkara had had a poor IPL for Sunrisers, and although he began the season as captain, he increasingly left himself out of the side towards the end of the tournament.

Junaid Khan’s opening spell in the second Test was described as “one of the best I have faced,” by Zimbabwe’s No.3 Hamilton Masakadza, who top-scored with 75 on the first day. Masakadza began his innings after only two deliveries had been bowled and faced 19 balls in Junaid’s first seven overs. He said that spell had made tricky batting conditions more difficult.”He [Junaid] was much harder to face today than he has been so far in the series,” Masakadza said. “In the one-dayers, he actually bowled quite a few bad balls, which did not make him that difficult to face, and then in the first Test we knew what he was going to do. He took the ball away from the right-hander and we were prepared for that, even though it was still a challenge to actually face him. But today he was also getting the ball to come back in to us, which made it really tough.”Junaid made the batsmen play at 26 of his first 30 deliveries by ensuring they were in two minds about whether it would be safe to leave the ball. The first run he conceded was via an edge from Masakadza and then there was a a mis-hit from Sibanda. Only after he had bowled 29 balls was there a confident stroke played against him.Masakadza said he and Sibanda could only hope to see Junaid off. “When you don’t know what he is going to do, you have to make up your mind early about whether you’re going to play or not. And if you decide not to, you have to hope it misses you,” he said. Junaid found Masakadza’s edge twice but neither proved too dangerous, and after the batsman had survived the tough period, he said that batting became easier.Towards the end of the day, however, there was evidence that the afternoon session on day one might have been the best for batting. A few deliveries had already begun to keep low, notably the one from Abdur Rehman that bowled Elton Chigumbura. The crack outside the right-handers’ off stump on the south end of the ground threatened to cause more problems.Masakadza expected the pitch to deteriorate quickly from here on. “You can already see it starting to play up and by the afternoon of day two and early day three, it’s going to be very difficult for batting.”For that reason, he though a first-innings score of over 250 will end up being “very good.” Besides turn, the unpredictable bounce will also become a factor, which could make Junaid more dangerous the next time Zimbabwe bat, although he hoped the home bowlers would have their say first.The pitch had only two-and-a-half days of preparation after the first Test ended on Saturday and both captains had expressed their concern over how it would hold up. If Masakadza is correct, it will not last for much longer.

Ramesh Powar, the former India offspinner, has shifted from his home team of Mumbai to Rajasthan, signing a two-year contract. Powar played five of the 11 matches in Mumbai’s run to the Ranji title last season, but had little success himself, only managing six wickets at 82.16.Powar said that current Rajasthan captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar had convinced him to make the switch to a team that has won the Ranji Trophy twice in the last three seasons.”The presence of Hrishi would add to [my] confidence,” Powar told . “He understands the game well and is composed and focused. He has become a better cricketer after his stint with Rajasthan. I hope I too will benefit from my decision of playing for Rajasthan.”The stocky Powar said he had worked hard on his fitness so that he could deliver for Rajasthan. “It was a challenge for me to lose weight. I have worked hard because I feel playing for Rajasthan ushers in a new innings for me. I want to contribute in all departments and that is why I wanted to be in best shape.”Having made his first-class debut back in the 1999-2000 season, Powar has plenty of experience. “I want to give back to the game. I would be happy if I am able to nurture a few youngsters in Rajasthan during my two-year stint. I always love to impart tips to upcoming spinners.” Among the spinners Powar will get to work with in Rajasthan are offspinner Madhur Khatri and left-arm spinner Gajendra Singh.It has been nearly six years since Powar last represented India, but even at 35, he dreams of returning to the national team. “I still hope to play for the country. A couple of good performances can turn the things your way. You never know. More over there is dearth of quality spinners in country.”

In what has been a week of rush signings for the Friends Life t20 competition that begins on June 26, Richard Levi, the South African batsman, has been signed by Northamptonshire for this summer’s campaign. Levi will join the squad before their first match against Gloucestershire on June 28. This is the club’s second overseas signing, after Cameron White joined in February.Northamptonshire head coach, David Ripley, was optimistic about Levi’s addition to the squad, “We are delighted to welcome Richard to the County Ground as he will add much needed firepower to the top of our order.”His willingness to jump on a plane and get over here at very short notice is testament to his desire to play not just for us, but to try and force himself back into international contention – something we hope this stint at Northants (Northamptonshire) will help him achieve.”We are looking forward to Richard joining Cameron White here at the County Ground as we go all out for a place in the latter stages of the Friends Life t20.”Levi has featured in 13 T20Is and 78 Twenty20 matches for the likes of Cape Cobras, Mumbai Indians and Somerset. He scored the fastest century in T20 international history off just 45 balls in only his second international appearance. He also hit a record 13 sixes during the unbeaten knock.