The World Cup winner for Indian team Manjot Kalra is in soup after his date of the birth certificate was found fake by the crime branch. The Delhi policemen found that the age of Manjot Kalra was cut down short by 1 year to what was written in the record books of the BCCI.
A charge sheet was named on the parents of the young cricketer. As he is below 18 years, his parent’s name was named on the charge sheet by the Delhi Police. Further, it quoted that the parents of the cricketers have obtained false birth certificates from municipal authorities to be eligible for lower age groups.
Not only Manjot Kalra but also the age certificates of the other 11 players were also found false. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police’s special investigation unit of the crime branch also named all of their parent’s name on the charge sheet.
Age of the cricketer was fudged:
According to the charge sheet filed before the chief metropolitan magistrate, Tis Hazari Courts, Kalra’s original date of birth is January 15, 1998, and not January 15, 1999, as indicated in the BCCI records.
“It is crystal clear that the date of birth of Manjot Kalra has been fudged/changed by his parents. In order to give him undue benefit of playing with the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA). It is proved beyond doubt. The birth certificate of Manjot Kalra has been fudged/changed by his parents,” the chargesheet states.
Manjot Kalra’s father denied:
The cricketer’s father, however, denied that his son’s age had been fudged. “When he was first admitted in school, the entry made by a relative was wrong. Later, we got it corrected. His correct year of birth is 1999,” Parveen said on Wednesday.
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 also, he welcomed BCCI decision to allow a player to compete in the U-19 World Cup only once.