Ahead of the thirteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), two Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) players have come under the scanner for age fudging.
Middle-order batsman Nitish Rana and fast bowler Shivam Mavi are under scrutiny, and the Kolkata-based franchise might lose their services for the upcoming IPL.
The 26-year-old Rana was one of the 22 players to be banned by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for age fudging in 2015. While the southpaw is not eligible to play age-group cricket anymore, it is unlikely that he will be banned from playing senior cricket. A decision on his future is expected to come out soon.
As far as Mavi is concerned, his case has been referred to the BCCI. Mavi, who was one of the key bowlers in India’s U-19 World Cup triumph last year, has played six first-class games and 16 List-A matches so far. The 18-year-old pacer is expected to be one of KKR’s breakout stars in the IPL 2020, and thus him facing a potential ban could be a massive blow for the two-times champions.
Meanwhile, Manjot Kalra, who grabbed the headlines for his scintillating ton in the 2018 U-19 World Cup final, has been banned from playing age-group cricket for two years by the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) ombudsman.
Kalra was under the scanner for fudging his age-related documents even before the 2018 U-19 World Cup. Although he was cleared to feature in the showpiece event, the left-hander could not prove that the allegations levied against him were wrong.
Delhi Capitals (DC) picked Kalra in their squad for the 2018 season. However, he could not make his debut for the franchise because Delhi had enough top-order batsman to choose from. The southpaw was released by DC ahead of the IPL 2020 auction – in which he went unsold.
