Now, Rizvi cry foul too, say Swami Vivekanand have overage players

A day after Swami Vivekanand protested against Rizvi fielding overage players, Bandra school lodges similar complaint against Borivli outfit

A day after Swami Vivekanand International (Borivli) filed a protest against Rizvi Springfield (Bandra) for fielding overage players in the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) Harris Shield Elite Division boys U-16 inter-school tournament, Rizvi filed a similar protest against Swami Vivekanand after they beat the Borivli school by four wickets.

Rizvi Springfield’s batsmen Ranveer Yadav (left) and Prashant Solanki return unbeaten against Swami Vivekanand (Borivli) in a Harris Shield league match at Azad Maidan yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Rizvi coach Raju Pathak said that they suspected Swami Vivekanand players of being overage and hence decided to lodge a complaint. "We have a doubt that eight Swami Vivekanand players are overage. I have asked MSSA to conduct bone tests on the players and then take a decision. We are not satisfied with the way MSSA is dealing with the matter," said Pathak.
On Wednesday, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) released a list of 34 players, who have been declared ineligible to play in U-16 tournaments as per the bone test conducted on the players before the start of the season.

"What hurts is the fact that MSSA is targeting Rizvi. There are overage players in Al-Barkaat MMI (Kurla) and Don Bosco (Matunga) too. Why not ban those schools too? Last year, one of my players, Satyalaksh Jain was not allowed to play despite being cleared after a bone test conducted by MCA."

Meanwhile, Swami Vivekanand director Yogesh Patel said he is ready to be interrogated. "I got a call from MSSA today, saying that Rizvi has lodged a protest against us. We are ready to co-operate with MSSA and if we are found guilty, MSSA has the right to ban us. We just want the truth to come out as, in such cases, it is genuine cricketers, who do not get a chance to progress."

According to MSSA cricket secretary Esmero Figueiredo, MSSA will soon meet to decide on further action. "Since both teams are pointing fingers at each other, we will have to discuss further action soon since the semi-finals are scheduled for next week (January 27-29)," said Figueiredo.

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