Before BCCI, MCA initiated age-fudging curbs in 2016

Dr PV Shetty

As part of a new policy aimed at tackling age-fudging in Indian cricket, the BCCI on Monday decided to restrict the participation of U-19 cricketers if the player's birth certificate is found to be registered more than two years after the date of birth.

Interestingly, it is the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) who introduced this policy much before their parent body. "It was during a Managing Committee meeting in 2016 that we decided to make our age fraud rules stricter. There were many complaints from the parents of Mumbai-born players about players coming from outside the city. That's when we took this decision," MCA's former joint secretary Dr PV Shetty said.

Ramesh Vazge, who was the MCA managing committee member to propose the rule, said: "There was no logic in having the birth certificate registered two years after the birth of the child. We just stopped registering those players. By implementing this rule, we saw a drastic reduction in the number of complaints regarding overage players."

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