The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Thursday roped in young Madhya Pradesh batsman Harpreet Singh Bhatia as a replacement for injured Sarfaraz Khan for the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017.
Sarfaraz, 19, suffered a leg injury during an inter-squad practice game at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium ahead of the season and has since not featured for last year's finalists in any of the six games so far.
Harpreet went unsold in February's IPL auction despite enjoying a dream run at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2016-17, where he topped the run charts by scoring 211 runs in four games at an average of 52.75 for North Zone.
"Harpreet Singh Bhatia, the Madhya Pradesh batsman, has been signed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore as a replacement for injured Sarfaraz Khan for the remainder of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017," a statement from the IPL read.
"A left-handed batsman, Harpreet has represented India under-19s in the past. He had a consistent run in the domestic limited-overs competitions for Madhya Pradesh and finished as the leading run-scorer of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Inter-Zonal tournament for Central Zone in 2016-17. He has played for two IPL franchises in past editions," it added.
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Currently placed sixth in the IPL team standings, the RCB could so far muster only two wins of their first six games. The Virat Kohli-led side's next encounter is against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday in Kolkata.
--IANS
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