The Board of Control for Cricket in India has imposed a strict two-year ban on young Bengal leg-spinner Rohit Yadav after detecting discrepancies in his age-related documents. Prior to this disciplinary action, the bowler had been selected just weeks earlier for the India Under-19 squad slated to play home limited-overs and multi-day fixtures against Australia. That squad also featured Anvay, the son of Rahul Dravid, and Aryavvir, the son of Virender Sehwag, drawing considerable attention to the developments.
Sri Lanka Tour Scrutiny and Multiple Birth Certificates
Originally hailing from Uttar Pradesh, the spinner had traveled to Sri Lanka in July as part of the India Under-19 touring party, where he claimed six wickets and contributed significantly to the team victory in the final Test. However, during document verification conducted in the course of that tour, glaring inconsistencies regarding his age came to light. Authorities discovered that the player possessed three distinct birth certificates bearing the birth years 2007, 2009, and 2010 respectively, alongside fluctuating records in his Aadhaar details.
Aadhaar Records and Association Discrepancies
Further checks revealed that while his birth year was listed as 2007 in the records of the Cricket Association of Bengal, updates made to his Aadhaar profile in 2017 and 2020 initially showed 2006 before being altered to 2009 in the year 2021. Because of these overlapping and contradictory records, he was found ineligible to participate in age-group cricket competitions. A board official confirmed the development, noting that the two-year suspension has officially been put into place.
Wider Crackdown Involving Dozens of Players
This scrutiny extends far beyond a single individual, as the Cricket Association of Bengal has flagged a total of 62 players following an exhaustive audit of birth documents and records. All these cricketers have been declared ineligible to register or transfer for any tournament across the 2026-27 and 2027-28 domestic seasons due to age discrepancies. The published list notably includes Ravi Kumar, who was a prominent member of India victorious Under-19 World Cup winning squad in 2022.
Ravi Kumar and Other Players Facing Action
In the case of Ravi Kumar, document checks uncovered an age gap amounting to 45 months within the association records. The sweeping verification drive also identified multiple discrepancies spanning several years across various other age-group cricketers in the state. The association has made the comprehensive list public on its official website as part of a wider administrative effort to eliminate age manipulation within junior levels of the sport.
