BCCI drops six U-19 state players for fudging age

CUTTACK: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (Bhas dropped six Odisha players from the under-19 squad for Vinoo Mankad Trophy(East Zone) over age fraud, dealing a huge blow to Odisha Cricket Association (OCA).
Cricket association sources said the players were dropped after the BCCI found serious irregularities in the birth certificates submitted by the players.
"The date of birth documents submitted by the players during registration did not match with the ones submitted by them in the previous season. The BCCI has taken serious note of it and recommended OCA to take immediate action against these players for fudging their age," an OCA official said.
The incident comes at a time when the CBI is investigating the alleged age fudging by 36 players including OCA CEO Bidyut Nayak's son Subham Nayak.
The six who have been dropped are Suryakant Samal, Harshit Rathod, Khyamasagar Bal, Suraj Singh, Pratyush Mohapatra and Rajesh Mohanty.
OCA sources said the state cricket association had sent the names of 40 U-19 players to the BCCI for approval. "But the board rejected the names of 12 players, including the six selected to play the Vinoo Mankad Trophy, after it found irregularities in their birth dates. The incident is certainly shameful for us," the OCA official added.
The team is already in Jharkhand to take part in the tournament, scheduled to start from October 2. But following the BCCI directive, the OCA on Friday hurriedly called back the six players and named their replacements.
Mohammed Saha Armaan, Anurag Kanojia, Tarini Tanay Mohapatra, Ayaskant Panda, Ashutosh Kumar and Krishendu Mohapatra will now replace the tainted six. Putting on a brave face OCA secretary Ashirbad Behera claimed the irregularity came to fore due to the strict stand of the state association.
"Earlier the players used to provide only documents related to their date of birth. But nowwe have made it mandatory for each player and his parents to submit legal affidavit to ensure authenticity of the birth details. Hence the players fell into their own trap and got exposed," Behera said. The former cricketer who was in Mumbai, said "After returning I will convene a special meeting to decide what action should be taken against these players."