Doctor's certificate is final: Bajpai

After match fixing, another incident to hit the Indian cricket fraternity square in the face has been the over aged controversy. The issue has been there for a long time but the BCCI has chosen to turn its back on it. However, the recent turn of events, the adverse coverage by the media and the unusual interest shown by everyone associated with the game have forced the Board to finally take some action in the matter.

The joint secretary of the BCCI and chairman of the junior committee, Jyoti Bajpai cleared the air of doubt on the over age issue. At a press conference at the MIG grounds in Mumbai, Bajpai made it clear that the Board had taken a firm stand on the matter and it has issued a circular to every affiliated unit to carry medical reports of the players in all the age restricted competitions conducted by the board, namely Under-14, Under-16 and the Under-19 tournaments.

Bajpai stated firmly, " We are trying our best to eradicate this menace. The data will now be fed into a computer based on the medical reports. That will leave no doubt on the age of a player and the records will help in the future."

The Rest of India Under-19 team that is playing the tour match at the MIG grounds in Mumbai was sent for a medical examination before the match. The results of the match will be presented to Bajpai later on Friday.

The startling fact is that the examining doctors Mukund Joshi and Anand Joshi have spoken to a section of the media and given the names of the players who have been found over aged. The junior selectors are not aware of the faulty players nor the result of the medical tests conducted. A Mumbai newspaper however carried the news on the front page of its Friday edition, a day before Bajpai was informed of the report.

When contacted on Friday at the MIG grounds, neither the zonal junior selectors nor the chairman of selectors Rajinder Goel had any information of the medical report or the names of the faulty players. Speaking to CricInfo, Goel said that he was not aware of the names of the cricketers, whereas all the players in the pavilion had read the newspaper and showed it to Goel on his inquiring. The players named in the newspaper did not react to the issue. The newspaper has named Arindam Das, Subhoy Das (East), Gaginder Singh and Gagandeep Singh (Punjab), Kashinath Khadkikar (Mah) and Maninder Singh (MP) as over 19 years of age.

Bajpai reacted, saying, "There is a code of conduct for the medical practioners. We can request them not to disclose the names of players to any outside member without consulting the Board." He added that he was unaware of the fact that the doctor had spoken to any member of the press and released any names. He agreed that it was unethical on the part of the medical examiners to release the names of players without informing or requesting the Board.

The Board has not given a statement on the medical report to any member of the media. Sharad Diwadkar denied giving any names to the press. In fact, the medical report of the suspected players in the Cooch Behar final in Pune in mid December, also has not been intimated to any zonal selector.

The junior zonal selectors are in a fix with the current proceedings as it leaves them with less players who will be eligible for selection for the first 'Test' at Mumbai. The selectors said that they would leave it to the Board to decide on the matter, and further steps will be taken as and when they are intimated about it. The boys have been asked to be present at the trials on January 7 at the Wankhede stadium.

Bajpai revealed the Board had identified three centres for medical examinations in India - Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai. Any doubt or clarification from any of the other two centres will be referred to the Bombay Hospital in Mumbai, which will take the final decision. He added, "The doctor's certificate will be the final verdict." The Board has appointed a panel of doctors who will conduct the tests for the players in the three cities. Bajpai added, "This is the first year of this decision, so there will be problems and difficulties, we have taken a step and we will tackle the problems."

Bajpai added that the doctor's report is subject to a six months variance from actual date of birth. "It can be six months more or six months less than the actual date. It is not possible scientifically to find the exact date of birth of a person."

While admitting that the problem had been there for some time and that the Board had not taken any decision on the issue, Bajpai added, "You have to start at one point of time. We have decided to take this step to put an end to this malpractice."

On the issue of several protests in the Cooch Behar Trophy, Bajpai replied, "We have received nine protests from UP, Vidharba, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and MP." He added that if a team has any doubt on a cricketer, they can play under protest and a medical exam will be conducted on the suspected player."

Bajpai said the action to be taken against the guilty players is very clear. "If he is found to be over aged, he will not be considered for selection." He added that the player would not be considered for further selection in that tournament but may be eligible for the Under-22 or senior tournaments.

Bajpai was of the view that "the players are as guilty as the associations that authorise such players. The actions on the associations will be discussed in the Junior Committee meeting on January 8. If the association has fielded a player deliberately, they may face a monetary fine as the punishment."

Two new names have been included for the selection trials at the Wankhede stadium on January 7. Uday Karkera (Mumbai) and Anshul Kapoor (UP) have been asked to appear for the trials in Mumbai. Bajpai concluded by saying "The selection committee has no right to ask for a medical report of a player. They will be given directions by the Board not to consider certain players for selection."

The teams for the three 'Tests' will be announced on January 8.