Rahul Dravid Opens Up On Ill-Effects Of Age-Fudging

Former India skipper and current National Cricket Academy (NCA) director Rahul Dravid has opened up on the recent age-fraud issue that has crept in Indian cricket. In the last couple of years or so, the Indian authorities had to deal with a number of age-fraud cases. In the most high-profile cases, Mumbai Indians’ starlet Rasikh Salam was also found guilty of age-fudging.

Later the BCCI handed the Jammu and Kashmir youngster a two-year ban. Manjot Kalra, who struck a match-winning century in the Under-19 World Cup final last year, had also landed in hot water for the same reason. In 2017, he was cleared by the BCCI but was hauled up by the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) after disgruntled parents of fellow Under-19 cricketers in Delhi alleged that Kalra had provided false information.

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Way back in 2011, Ankit Bawne was removed from the India Under-19 squad after the date of birth in his passport didn’t match the one in his birth certificate and the BCCI’s records. Delhi and Kolkata Knight Riders star Nitish Rana had also faced age-fudging accusations.

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The BCCI is trying to do all it can to eradicate this menace but the results have not been very satisfactory. Rahul Dravid has now spoken on the ill-effect of age-fudging. The legendary cricketer said that age fraud leads to an “erosion of culture”.

“It is up to the maidan secretaries, the owners of the office teams, the club teams to ensure that this does not happen,” said Dravid at the prize distribution ceremony of the Times Cricket Shield.

“Age fraud leads to an erosion of culture,” Rahul `Dravid said. “It leads to a scenario where a lot of talented boys don’t get to play when they should actually be playing.”

Rahul Dravid played an integral role in getting a rule implemented that saw players eligible to play in the ICC U-19 World Cup only once.

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