Rajvardhan Hangargekar, who played a major role in India winning the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2022, is reportedly in trouble for fudging his age.
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Rajvardhan Hangargekar was one of the stars in the recent ICC Under-19 World Cup 2022. His pace bowling combination with Raj Bawa, Ravi Kumar played a vital role in India winning ICC Under-19 World Cup for the fifth time. In the recent IPL 2022 Mega Auction, Rajvardhan Hangargekar was snapped up by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 1.5 crore. Hangargekar was in the middle of a big bidding war between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.
Now, Hangargekar might be in big trouble. According to a report in Saamna Newspaper, Maharashtra’s Commissioner for Sports and Youth Department has written a letter to the BCCI. The publication, which is a mouthpiece for the Shiv Sena party, has said that Omprakash Bakoria, the commissioner has alleged that Hangargekar has committed age fudging.
Read – Five Star Raj Bawa give India a historic fifth ICC Under-19 World Cup title
In the paper, it stated that Hangargekar’s actual age is 21. Hangargekar was a student of Terna Public School in Dharshiv. During readmission in class VIII, his birth date was changed from January 10, 2001, to November 10, 2002. This made him eligible for the recently concluded ICC U-19 World Cup. Bokaria has also shared evidence of Dharshiv CEO Rahul Gupta stating that his date of birth was changed.
The menace of age-fudging is nothing new in Indian cricket. Manjot Kalra, who hit a century in the final of the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2018 final against Australia, was also charged with age-fudging. The accusations against him were true and Manjot Kalra was banned for two years playing for Delhi.
When Hangargekar was picked up by Chennai Super Kings, a video of him emerged on the official IPL site stating that his father was a big MS Dhoni fan. “I have always been a die-hard fan of MS Dhoni. My father used to like CSK a lot. He really loved Dhoni and he always wanted me to play for CSK. I am really happy to play with his franchise, so I am really happy about it. My mindset is to play like West Indies cricketers. I like to bowl fast and I like to hit big sixes. Been working on my strength. I just want to watch the ball and hit it beyond the boundary,” Hangargekar stated.
With these new age-fudging allegations surfacing, Hangargekar and many Indian cricket fans will be praying that the allegations are false. But, it once again brings into question about the menace that threatens to disrupt India’s youth system in cricket.
