MCA bans 16 over-age players from participating in summer vacation camps

All is not going well at the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). According to the reports, the MCA have banned 16 players across various age groups (under-14, 16, 19 and 23) from participating in the summer camps and tournaments after they found the players guilty for age-fudging.

The players were caught producing fake certificates which did not match their other documents, which included school leaving certificates and the mark sheets. It was not all the 26 budding cricketers, who were involved in this and came under the scanner. But on verification, the number of players who were eligible came down to 10 out from the total of the 26 players.

The remaining 16 cricketers and their parents have been summoned to the Cricket Association’s office on Monday following this incident, according to MCA Joint Hon Secretary Dr Unmesh Khanvilkar. The association wishes to take strict actions against these culprits as soon as possible which was only rampant in the outstation players.

Vice-president Vinod Deshpande said: “One player produced a document to prove that he is in Class VII. The same cricketer had earlier submitted a certificate to indicate he is in Class IX. Last year, we discovered some players were over-aged when we began selecting the Mumbai under-19 team.”

“Age-fudging is a major cause of decay in Mumbai cricket. It is not fair to other players who adopt fair means to pursue their cricketing careers. This is a serious issue and we need to find a permanent solution to stop this,” emphasised MCA managing committee member Ramesh Vazge.

On the other hand, while the Mumbai cricket officials are enjoying the benefits of hosting the Mumbai Indians matches at the Wankhede, they are finding it troublesome here to punish the ineligible players. According to reports, it looks more certain than not that the players found guilty would be banned for a period of two years or more depending on the extent.