Indian women’s T-20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur is in the eye of a storm. The cricketer has been found to possess a fake degree following an inquiry by Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut. The scandal came to light after Punjab Police reached out to the university to verify her certificate after the player was appointed as DYSP under the sports quota. Prior to this, Harmanpreet was an Office Superintendent with Indian Railways.
Though Harmanpreet is being tight-lipped about the issue, her father Harmander Singh Bhullar and childhood coach Yaduvinder Singh Sodhi say she plans to meet Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh regarding the issue.
Speaking over the phone, Harmander says, “We are upset about this controversy. If her graduation certificate was fake, how did she serve in Indian Railways? The job in the police department was offered by the Chief Minister and my daughter will meet him.”
According to her father, Harmanpreet got admission at a Jalandhar college after finishing high school. But due to her busy cricket schedule, she missed her exams. “The coach from Amritsar guided her to the university in Meerut saying they were flexible about exams and she could give them whenever she wanted to,” he says, adding, “She went to Delhi with that coach to give the exams. Later, she got admission in HMV College for Post-Graduation Diploma and played for Guru Nanak University.”
Though she couldn’t complete that diploma due to her overseas tour, there is proof she was admitted there, according to the father.
“She got a job in the railways on the basis of this degree. She herself was not aware that this degree would not be verified. Had she known about this, she could have gotten a degree in these eight years,” he says and puts the blame on the coach by saying, “The coach misguided her — as most coaches do to make the players represent their college or university. Now, she is suffering.”
Meanwhile, Sodhi, now settled in Australia, assures that the player will definitely meet the CM. He says, “She will declare all this in a press conference. The department has asked her to stay calm till they reach a decision.”
