Age-fudging in the domestic circuit has reared its ugly head once again, as one of the brightest prospects from India’s Under-19 team Manjot Kalra has come under suspicion of submitting wrong age in his documents.
He is instructed to undergo another round of age verification test by the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) despite being cleared by parent body BCCI.
Earlier this week, Kalra was named the Delhi captain for the upcoming Cooch Behar Trophy, but the squad got immediately taken off the association’s official website. The Delhi Under-19 captain was also absent from the team’s first training session at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi on Friday (September 29).
The turn of events is a big blow for Kalra who recently scored a century against England U-19 in a youth Test in England and is almost guaranteed a place in the team for next year’s junior World Cup in New Zealand.
Justice Vikramajeet Sen, the DDCA administrator, has ordered that all eligible U-19 cricketers would be undergoing medical test for age-verification once again.
In his notification, Sen has also clearly stated:
“BCCI has informed the undersigned that they have accepted the age of Manjot Kalra as 15-1-1999 after verification done by them. It can’t be presumed at this stage that the documents submitted by Mr. Kalra are incorrect.
However, Kalra’s age has been questioned after few parents provided separate documents which state that the left-handed batsman’s date of birth is 15-1-1998 with another set of documents from his school Lancers Convent School, Rohini.
“It is indeed a matter of regret that FIR No 312/2015 regarding age verification complaint is still pending,” Sen wrote referring to the FIR lodged by former Delhi captain Kirti Azad in 2015. “It does not advance the cause of sport in general and cricket in particular. Since FIR has been pending for some time, DDCA has been left with no alternative but to conduct their own investigation. It is deemed appropriate, that Mr Manjot Kalra will be asked to undergo a medical test.”