U-19 World Cup Age Row: Anukul Roy Over-aged, Fraudulently Allowed by BCCI Secretary Alleges Petitioner

New Delhi, February 9: Aditya Verma, petitioner in the IPL spot-fixing scam has alleged that Amitabh Choudhary, acting secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), fraudulently allowed over-aged Ankul Roy to participate in the Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Verma has written a letter to ICC chairman Shashank Manohar and chairman of the Committee of Administrators (CoA) running Indian cricket, Vinod Rai to bring the issue to their notice.

Jharkhand' Anukul Roy was the member of the Indian squad which won the 2018 ICC U-19 World Cup after thrashing Australia by eight wickets. He also became the joint highest wicket taker in the tournament. However, Verma has alleged that Roy was over-aged and was found guilty in the age verification process (AVP) test by BCCI in the year 2017.

In his letter to ICC and BCCI, Verma wrote, "Anukul Roy was found guilty in the AVP (age verification process) test by BCCI in the year 2017, when Mr. Chaudhary was the President of the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA)." He added, "On that time Mr. Chaudhary, who was the Joint Secretary of BCCI, used his power and influence allowed Mr. Anukul Roy to play Jharkhand under-19 in the domestic cricket tournament of BCCI. Being a President of JSCA Mr. Amitabh Chaudhary and Secretary Mr. Rajesh Verma knows all the facts that 33 players of JSCA found over aged in AVP test in the year 2013. Mr. Anukul Roy was in the list and report disallowed him to represent under-19 after 2016, as per documents."

Verma further said that the BCCI selected Roy in the under-19 world cup squad in 2017 due to influence of Chaudhary because the latter was also the convener of the Junior Selection Committee of BCCI then. Talking to ANI, Verma said, "Amitabh Chaudhary is an acting secretary of BCCI and everybody knows he is the biggest law broker of the Indian cricket board. I have sent so many letters to CoA regarding illegal acts of Chaudhary but failed to get any reply. BCCI had already debarred Ankul Roy to play from U-19 in 2016 but Chaudhary being a secretary of BCCI and being convener of the Junior Selection Committee of BCCI managed to include him in the team," Verma added. He further alleged that everybody in the BCCI including CEO Rahul Johri is dancing on the tunes of Chaudhary. Verma concluded saying that he wants justice in the matter from Vinod Rai.