Mumbai Indians pacer Rasikh Salam faces a two-year ban by BCCI for age fraud

On Wednesday, The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ruled a ban on Jammu and Kashmir medium-pacer Rasikh Salam of two years for submitting a bogus birth certificate to the Indian cricket board.

Earlier this year Salam created a buzz when he made his debut for the Indian Premier League franchise, Mumbai Indians. Salam impressed all with his ability of pace bowling at 17. He was seen as a welcome sign and considered as a budding talent. While he bagged only one game but he showed great potential.

The board in a release announced that Salam will be withdrawn from the  India U-19 squad that will contest in a tri-series in England starting July 21. Prabhat Maurya will join the squad in place of Salam.

The Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education informed the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) that Salam doctored his age. The board had made it clear to the JKCA that the age Rasikh provided to the cricket association didn't match that of the board's record (as registered during his Class 10 examination).

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A former JKCA member conveyed his displeasure about such things happening in the presence of administrators in the association. The member believes that in spite of having two administrators such an episode occurring is indeed sad. Such episodes should be prevented by the board as they also hamper with the chance of deserving young players getting an opportunity to play.

Following Salam’s ban, the revised India U19 squad is:

Priyam Garg (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Thakur Tilak Verma, Divyansh Saxena, Shaswat Rawat, Dhruv Chand Jurel (wk), Shubhang Hegde, Ravi Bishnoi, Vidyadhar Patil, Sushant Mishra, Prabhat Maurya, Sameer Rizvi, Pragnesh Kanpillewar, Kamran Iqbal, Priyesh Patel (WK), Karan Lal, Purnank Tyagi, Anshul Khamboj.

Such incidents have happened before when the player’s age was in question, Rashid Khan the Afghani spinner is also said to have fudged his age. The actual age of Former Pakistani cricketer has always been a mystery, even after his retirement.

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