Fudging of age witnesses U19 Odisha players suspended by BCCI

The Board of control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has suspended a majority of the Odisha cricket team due to fudging of their age in the ongoing Vinoo Mankad tournament. A report from the Indian Express states that the board went ahead and suspended seven senior cricketers who had fudged their age for the U12 and the U19 categories of the tournament.

The BCCI has also served notices to six players who are currently taking an active part in the Ranji Trophy season. The Board has also gone on to take the decision to ban these players from any cricket related activities for the rest of the cricketing season. Asirbad Behera, the secretary of the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) also confirmed the same.

Speaking about it, Behra went on to reveal that the board has restrained 19 players from participating in any domestic tournament for the remainder of the season. He also added that Alok Sahu, Ashis Mohanty, Rajesh Dhuper and Subham Nayak have also received BCCI notices seeking certain documents pertaining to their age certificates. “We will abide by the BCCI decision”, Behera said.

The previous week had seen six players affiliated with the OCA sent back in the East Zone Vinoo Mankad tournament taking place in Ranchi at the moment. Reports suggest that they were sent back due to a subsequent mismatch their date of birth and the state association replaced them with fresh players at last moment.

The BCCI has been in the news recently with the Justice Lodha committee freezing the bank account of the board. Moreover, the fact of the matter saw the board also threaten to call off the ongoing New Zealand series in retaliation towards the freezing of the accounts.

Prithvi Shaw notches up yet another ton

While the ban on the Odisha players certainly comes as a bad negative to the Vinoo Mankad tournament, the U19 tournament has some interesting positives as well. Batsman Prithvi Shaw continued his impressive form with yet another ton, something that has seen him move to 277 runs in the tournament thus far.

He has amassed a whopping 277 runs in three innings with an impressive average of 92.33 so far in the tournament. Prithvi’s match winning innings in all three games has also ensured Mumbai topping the table.