New Delhi: Former India boxer Vijender Singh, through a social media post, Wednesday raised the question whether age fraud has now settled in cricket as well.
Age fraud, or the practice of misrepresenting a player’s age, is a significant problem in Indian sports, particularly at the junior and age-group levels. The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has taken measures to address this issue, including stricter verification processes.
“Bhai aaj kal umar choti ker ke cricket me bhe khelne lage (Players have started reducing their age in cricket too),” posted Olympic Games bronze medallist Vijender Singh on X.
Vijender Singh’s comments follow after social media questioned the age of Rajasthan Royals batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who is the youngest player to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Playing just his third IPL match, the 14-year-old Suryavanshi shattered a stack of records with an inspired century against Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur Monday. The teenage batter scripted history with a 35-ball century, which is the fastest by an Indian player in the IPL and the second-fastest of all time.
“Even if this Vaibhav guy did age fraud, such insane power-hitting at the age of 15-16 is crazyyy man,” posted a user on X.
Another user posted an old video of Vaibhav giving an interview and claimed, “Vaibhav is definitely older than he states.”
“No way Vaibhav Suryavanshi is 14 years old. This is a 3-4-year-old video where he himself accepted that he looks younger than his age and defo not 15! This case should be deeply investigated by @BCCI, and ban him if found guilty.”
At 14 years and 32 days, Suryavanshi scored a sensational 101 off just 38 balls against GT to become the youngest player to score a century in the IPL and T20 cricket as a whole.
