New Delhi, Feb 22: Indian Premier League franchise Delhi Daredevils have appointed Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene as the side's deputy for the 2012 edition. Jayawardene led Sri Lanka to the final of the 2007 World Cup and also scored an unbeaten hundred in the 2011 edition in Mumbai against India. "He has an excellent track record as a leader of men and draws enormous respect from his team-mates," Delhi Daredevils' Team Mentor T.A. Sekar said. "We are aware of the immense value that Mahela brings to the table and are sure that the team will benefit from his presence in the leadership team." Virender Sehwag, who is the captain of the Daredevils, was happy about the appointment of Jayawardene as vice-captain, said Sekar. "Viru (Sehwag) told us that he would find Mahela's experience as a leader very handy. We are confident that they will bring the best out of the squad this season. That will enable us to stay competitive through the season and have the chance to celebrate Mahela's 35th birthday on May 27," he said. Delhi Daredevils dished out $1.4 million for the services of the Sri Lankan at the IPL players' auction last month.........

Cricketer Harbhajjan Singh may have tormented many batsmen with his bowling but this is one googly he may fail to comprehend himself. Police in Jalandhar are investigating a scam in which a namesake of the Indian cricketer used his bank statement to get a visa to visit Britain. The New Delhi-based British High Commission has refused visa to Harbhajan Singh of Patti in the border district of Tarn Taran after his bank statement was found to be fake. Assistan Commissioner of Police Harkanwaljit Singh Khakh said police were probing how the namesake Harbhajjan Singh was able to procure the bank statement of the cricketer from the Civil Lines branch of HDFC Bank. The high commission became suspicious about the documents submitted by the namesake Harbhajan Singh as his mother's name was mentioned as Kulwant Kaur while the bank statement showed the name as Avtar Kaur.  The high commission complained to the Jalandhar police commissioner. "We have sent summons twice to the other Harbhajan Singh Singh, who works in a oil company in Mumbai, but he has not joined the investigation," Khakh told here. Police are also investigating the role of agents and HDFC bank employees to unearth if there was a racket of supplying fake bank account statements. The fake statement submitted to the embassy showed an account balance of over Rs.400,000, in the name of the cricketer who resides in Jalandhar city, 150 km from Chandigarh. Police said the manager of the HDFC Bank had confirmed that the account statement sent to the embassy belonged to the cricketer.  Police have questioned members of the family of the Tarn Taran Harbhajan Singh. Cricketers Harbhajjan, fondly called 'Bhajji', is now out of the Indian cricket team owing to poor form. The ace spinner had his bag, containing his passport and other documents, stolen from his SUV near Haryana's Karnal town in December when he was on his way to Delhi and had stopped for coffee.