Indian sports has been hit by age fraud issues multiple times. Age fraud in cricket has been a regular problem for BCCI to handle at the age group levels as due to the age groups level not being so strictly monitored, players take the risk of using age fudging to dominate lower levels and get higher in ladder of Indian Cricket. Due to age groups having multiple divisions, developed cricketers playing in lower age group levels can dominate with their higher muscular strength and physical prowess and that helps them showcasing their performances to selectors of higher level. Previously, BCCI has caught many cricketers doing age fraud and has sanctioned them including the likes of Manjot Kalra, Nitish Rana and Rasikh Salam. Age Fraud Claims Surface Against 12-Year-Old Bihar Cricketer Vaibhav Suryavanshi As He Made History By Becoming One of the Youngest Ever to Debut in Ranji Trophy.

Indian cricket has again faced the perennial problem of age fraud. The Board Of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI) has reportedly banned a cricketer from Odisha, Sumit Sharma from playing any domestic cricket tourneys for the next two years. Sharma is an all-rounder by trade and was found guilty of producing multiple fake age certificates. He gave a different age certificate to the Odisha cricket team and it differed to the one he had submitted during the 2015-16 season. Sharma was part of the Odisha cricket team for the Ranji Trophy 2023-24. Fan Highlights Poor Condition of Ranji Trophy 2023-24 Venue Moin-Ul-Haq Stadium in Patna for Bihar vs Mumbai Match, Video Goes Viral.

In the wake of Sumit Sharma's age fraud, the Odisha cricket selection committee named Tarini Sa as his replacement in the squad that has travelled to Vadodara to take on Baroda at the Moti Bagh Stadium. “Sumit Sharma, a player of Odisha Senior Men’s Team, has been disqualified by the BCCI to play in the BCCI Domestic Tournaments for 2 years as he has produced multiple age certificates. The certificates produced by him when he played at the junior level in the year 2015-16 do not match with the ones he produced for the current season,” OCA secretary Sanjay Behera said in a press statement.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 06, 2024 12:40 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).