Acting tough on the age fudging attempt by cricketers, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday suspended seven senior women cricketers and 12 Under-19 players of Odisha for one year. The BCCI also issued notices to four other Ranji players of the State on similar charges.
Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) secretary Asirbad Behera here admitted that the BCCI has restrained these 19 players from participating in any domestic tournaments to be organised by the OCA during the 2016-17 season.
Behera also confirmed that four Ranji players, Alok Sahu, Ashis Mohanty, Rajesh Dhuper and Subham Nayak, have received BCCI notices seeking certain documents pertaining to their age certificates. “We will abide by the BCCI decision,” Behera said.
last week, the BCCI had sent back six Odisha players from the ongoing East Zone Vinoo Mankad Tournament at Ranchi for mismatch in their dates of birth, and subsequently, the OCA replaced them with fresh players at the last moment.
The age fudging controversy has been dogging the OCA for last several years, and the OCA has suffered huge embarrassments for lining up over-aged players in several national level tournaments.