Mumbai: Maharashtra State Sports Commissioner Omprakash Bakoria has written to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) seeking “stern action” against India’s Under-19 World Cup winning team member Rajvardhan Hangargekar for age fraud. In a letter dated February 8, Bakoria wrote to BCCI secretary Jay Shah that the pacer changed his age from January 10, 2001 to November 10, 2002, and that he was over-qualified while playing in the recently concluded Under-19 World Cup. .
Bakoria wrote, “Rajvardhan Hangargekar’s conduct was against sports integrity and ethics. This did not lead to fair play and damage to the prestige of the country. Hence you are requested to take strict action as per law.” This letter has also been sent to Riyaz Bagban, Secretary, Maharashtra Cricket Association. Bakoria further wrote, “The investigation and its report have revealed that Rajvardhan Hangargekar did his studies from Terna Public School in Osmanabad. It is governed under the School Code of Maharashtra Government.
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He wrote, “The date of birth of Rajvardhan Hangargekar was given as January 10, 2001, at the time of admission to class I in Terna Public School, Osmanabad. Rajvardhan Hangargekar’s date of birth was 10 January 2001 as per the school records till class VII. The commissioner alleged that the school made unauthorized changes in Hangargekar’s date of birth. He said, “As per the general register of Terna Public School, Osmanabad, his date of birth was January 10, 2001. It seems that the headmaster made unauthorized changes and his date of birth was written as November 10, 2002 at the time of fresh application in class VIII.”
Bakoria wrote, “If the headmaster needed to change the date of birth, he should have taken necessary approval from the education officer of the district concerned. However, no such approval was taken while changing the date of birth of Rajvardhan Hangargekar. “Such changes were made out of authority and this is fraud and forgery in government records,” he said. Hangargekar was bought by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 1.5 crore in the IPL auction last week. PTI reached out to Maharashtra Cricket Association secretary Baghban and Hangargekar for a response but could not get through to them.
Earlier, Manjot Kalra, who scored a match-winning century in the final of the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, was also banned from playing for Delhi for two years due to age fraud. Maharashtra’s Ankit Bawane was also dropped from the India Under-19 team in September 2011 after his date of birth on the passport did not match with his birth certificate and BCCI records. (agency)