Munaf Patel lands in fresh controversy after guiding a player to produce bogus documents for enrollment in BCA

Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) officials were stunned after getting to know that students, who do not hail from Gujarat, were being admitted to the association via fake documents. To make it even more startling, former India international Munaf Patel’s name has also been associated with the scandal.

The BCA, over the years, has been marred with allegations of making the sport a ‘business’. There have been many instances where the association has been questioned for its wrongdoings such as selecting ‘preferred’ players from private cricket academies. Such incidents have played a major role in tarnishing the image of the BCA in the past few years.

Talking about the recent scandal, Shivam Bharadwaj, a non-Gujarat resident, was enrolled in the BCA through means of bogus documents. Wishing to ply his trade at the Under-16 level, it was later revealed that Bharadwaj’s age was more than 16 years. The matter was examined further and his documents such as school leaving certificate and Aadhar Card were checked for reference.

Bharadwaj’s documents mentioned that he hailed from Ikhar

However, when the school which was mentioned on Bharadwaj’s LC was contacted, the administration responded by saying that no student named ‘Shivam Bharadwaj’ had studied there. Furthermore, Bharadwaj’s Aadhar Card also turned out to be a fake one, leaving the BCA officials in shock. At present, Bharadwaj is practising with the Under-19 team at the association

While investigating the matter, it was learnt that the documents were bogus. Moreover, Munaf Patel’s name also came into the picture during the scrutiny. The investigation suggested that Munaf Patel had guided Bharadwaj to get him enrolled in the BCA. Bharadwaj’s documents showed Ikhar (Munaf’s hometown) on them and that’s when a connection was established between the India international and the scandal.

It’s still unclear if the BCA would file a case against Munaf or Bharadwaj for their fraudulent activities. BCA is slated to hold its general board meeting on July 23 where a lot of things will get unfolded. Only time will tell if the matter will be doused or the BCA will take strict action and file a complaint against the forgery.