BCCI announces two-year ban for age fraud

The Board of Control of Cricket In India on Tuesday announced that a cricketer guilty of age fraud will be barred from all its recognized tournaments for a period of two years.

“The BCCI has a zero-tolerance policy for age fraud in sport and has taken strict action against cricketers found guilty of manipulating their date of birth certificates while registering for BCCI tournaments,” said the BCCI in a statement.

“As conveyed to state associations at the start of the season, BCCI wishes to reiterate that from the 2018-19 season, any cricketer who is found guilty of tampering his/her date of birth will be disqualified and barred from participating in any BCCI tournament for a period of 2 years i.e. 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons,” it added.

The earlier rule imposed a one year ban on a cricketer if found guilty. In September, the BCCI had banned a Meghalya-bound Delhi player, Jaskirat Singh Sachdeva, for producing a fake birth certificate to play in an Under-19 tournament.

Age fraud is a perennial phenomenon facing junior cricket. In 2016, former India captain Rahul Dravid had acknowledged age-fudging as a major problem in Indian cricket and welcomed BCCI’s decision to allow a player to compete in the U-19 World Cup only once.

READ: "Few People In Power Are Out To Destroy Me'': Mithali Raj Hits Out At Coach Ramesh Powar And CoA Member Diana Edulji

Meanwhile, according to latest reports, Mithali Raj has spoken for the first time in the wake of the controversy where she was rested in the crucial game against England in the 2018 ICC Women's World T20 World Cup.

Mithali Raj in her letter to the BCCI has accused head coach Ramesh Powar of discriminating against her and added that she had been humiliated by the interim coach. 

She went on to reveal how she was only informed only hours before the semi-final clash that she would not be a part of the Indian team's playing XI. She admitted to being baffled by the decision at being unceremoniously dropped.

The Indian women's ODI captain Mithali Raj in her letter further accused CoA member Diana Edulji of bias. She also acknowledged the fact that she had taken a risk by writing the letter but went she went ahead with it as she wanted her emotions to be heard