IPL 2022: U19 star Rajvardhan Hangargekar could lose IPL contract due to age fraud

Rajvardhan Hangargekar, member of the Indian U19 World Cup team, could be banned from playing cricket.

The pacer has been accused of doing age fraud to become elgibile to play for U19 team. In a report published in Marathi newspaper Saamna, the commissioner of the Sports and Youth Department, Maharashtra, Omprakash Bakoria has accused Hangargekar of age fudging.

He said that Hangargekar changed his birth date from January 10, 2001 to November 10, 2002 to play for U19 teams. This was done during his readmission in the 8th grade in the school.

Bakoria, as per the same report, has written to the BCCI regarding the bowler’s age fraud.

“Dharashiv CEO Rahul Gupta investigated Rajvardhan Hangargekar’s birth date. It was found that he was admitted to a public school in Dharashiv where his birthdate was listed as 10 January 2001. However, that was changed to 10th November 2002 before eighth grade,” Bakoria wrote in his letter to the BCCI, as per InsideSport.

“Yes, we have received a letter from the Maharashtra DYS. It is a serious allegation and we are looking into it. But at the moment he is free to play. We fully trust the system in place,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying by InsideSport.

Hangargekar, a pace all-rounder, who is known for his great speed and ability to strike the ball well, was picked up by Chennai Super Kings at the recently-concluded IPL 2022 mega auction. CSK bought him for a sum of Rs 1.5 crore at the mega auction. If his agre fraud turns out to be true then he may lose contract and also stopped from playing cricket.