Onus on states to curb age-fudging problem - BCCI official

The issue of age-fudging in Indian cricket is a persistent problem despite the BCCI trying various measures to prevent it. Players - in connivance with their coaches, parents and associations - getting their age reduced to play longer in age-group cricket is a malaise in Indian, as well as Asian, cricket.

During an India Under-19 probables' camp in Bangalore in July, it was noticed that a player's registered date of birth with his state association - and BCCI - did not match that on his passport, following which he was withdrawn from the camp. The case was similar to Ankit Bawne's withdrawal from India's Under-19 squad in 2011.

Despite having introduced a robust Age Verification Programme (AVP) in 2012 under the guidance of Dr Vece Paes, a former Olympic hockey player and one of the leading sports medicine experts in the country, the BCCI still faces problems controlling the issue.

"The onus should ultimately be on the state associations. If they let players tamper with their documents early on, it becomes very difficult to control it," said Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI's general manager of game development. "Still, ever since the introduction of TW3 tests, we have been able to control almost 95% of the age-fudging cases."

In 2012 the BCCI decided to adopt the Tanner-Whitehouse 3 method (TW3), which determines the age of a child based on the growth of bones in the hand, especially the wrist. The margin of error in this method is six months.

The BCCI conducts national under-16, under-19 and under-22 tournaments, while the under-14 tournament is conducted by each of the five zones. Until 2012, if a protest was registered against a player, the BCCI would ask the player to undergo a test by the Greulich & Pyle method [GP method] at a certified hospital. But the margin of error in this method could be up to two years.

After adopting the TW3 method, the BCCI found almost 230 overage players in the under-16 tournaments in 2012-13. It led to several litigations by the parents of those players. The BCCI at no stage banned any of these cricketers but insisted on them competing in a higher age group. Some of the parents argued that it was unjust that their child was barred from competing in a category despite producing relevant documents stating their eligibility.

Since 2012 the BCCI has used both bone ratings and documentary evidence of date of birth. "We are not challenging the birth certificate. All we are recommending is every player must pass the bone rating the first time he is selected for under-16 or lower levels," Shetty said. "The TW3 results are anyway sent to independent specialists who determine the player's age."

The TW3 method had also been adopted by the Asian Cricket Council and produced results. During various ACC under-15 and under-16 tournaments in 2007, 2010 and 2012, in Nepal, Thailand and Malaysia, a total of 265 cases of overage players were found using the TW3 method.

Despite the ACC adopting these tests, other Asian cricket nations like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have not made it mandatory for their junior cricketers to undergo TW3 tests. They rely on documentary proof of the player's date of birth registration, with Pakistan and Bangladesh conducting bone tests only in case of disputes.

While the BCCI has made it mandatory for all under-16 players representing their state teams to undergo tests, the disadvantage of the TW3 method is that it is ineffective for testing in the under-19 age group. "There is no bone test for under-19 age group because all the bones fuse after the age of 16," Shetty said. "TW3 can thus be conducted only till 16, or 16 and a half years."

This opens the door for potential offenders to exploit the under-19 age group, which has emerged as an entry point to India's national team over the last decade. Many coaches and administrators admitted that players sometimes skip the under-16 event and play under-19 for a longer duration.

A 17-year-old cricketer, for example, could get his documents tampered to state he is 15 and play under-19 cricket for four years. Such cases are rare, but Shetty said all the BCCI could do is make the age verification process as stringent as possible.

"About 90% of the under-19 boys have already undergone TW3 tests while playing under-16 cricket. For those who directly break into the under-19 squad, we have made it mandatory for them to submit at least three age-proof documents, including birth certificate, school leaving certificate, SSC mark sheet and passport.

"It makes it very difficult for a player to cheat. And that is precisely why I put the onus more on state associations. If they don't report discrepancies or act on them, a few such cases will keep on cropping up."