In a serious allegation, India’s U-19 World Cup squad’s all-rounder Rajvardhan Hangargekar has been accused of committing age-fudging by Maharashtra’s Commissioner of Sports and Youth Department, Omprakash Bakoria. According to Saamana newspaper, the IAS officer has written a letter to BCCI in which he has also sent evidence against the cricketer. According to the publication, Hangergekar’s actual age is 21. Hangrekar, a student of Terna Public School, during readmission in class VIII, his birth date was changed from January 10, 2001, to November 10 2002. This made him eligible for the recently concluded ICC U-19 World Cup, where he played six matches and picked up five wickets.
The publication further reported that in his letter to the BCCI, Omprakash Bakoria sent evidence in the form of Dharashiv Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rahul Gupta’s confirmation that Rajvardhan Hungergekar’s date of birth was changed. Recently, Rajvardhan Hungergekar was bought by CSK for Rs 1.5 crore at the IPL 2022 mega auction. Previously, a similar situation was dealt with by the BCCI in a harsh manner. A player from Kashmir by the name of Rasikh Salam Dar received a 2-year ban from the BCCI after he was guilty of committing age-fudging.He was bought by Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2019 auction and also made his debut. But in June 2019, the BCCI found evidence that he had meddled with the birth certificate and handed him a 2-year ban. Rasikh was recently bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2022 mega auction.
