Controversy surrounds over Nepal U19 skipper Raju Rijal's age

Raju Rijal, Nepal U19 teams’ captain has come under controversy after his name was brought under the scanner for being over age.

The doubts were raised after Mumbai cricketer Kaustubh Pawar posted a picture of Rijal on his Facebook page and claimed that Rijal played under the name of Raju Sharma in Mumbai. According to the Mumbai batsman, Rijal must be around 24 or 25 by now.

“We played together in under 15 for Mumbai and now he is captain of Nepal under 19 team and we others are 24-25 age respectively.”

“In Mumbai Raju Sharma, in Nepal Raju Rijal.” #‎SaveCricket ‪#‎Shame ‪#‎ICCUnder19WorldCupBangladesh2016, Pawar wrote on his Facebook page.

The Thane-based cricketer posted this message on his Facebook page after the start of the Group D match between India U19 and Nepal U19 yesterday.

Reportedly, Rijal was brought to Mumbai to play cricket some years back and has played in various local tournaments of various age group.

Former cricketer and now a successful coach, Naushad Khan had invited Sharma from Uttar Pradesh. He was one of the many cricketers handpicked by the ace coach. The wicket-keeper batsman soon got selected for the Mumbai U-15 squad which he even captained.

His teammates in that team featured soon to successful cricketer Iqbal Abdullah, Javed Khan and the Kaustubh Pawar himself.

Mumbai cricketers, who have played alongside him are convinced that Rijal (Sharma) overage.

“Of course, he is overage. I remember playing under him for Mumbai’s U-15 squad. Me, Sufiyaan, Kaustubh and Raju have played many matches together. I simply cannot understand how he is still U-19,” Javed Khan, who has played Ranji Trophy for Mumbai confirmed after being asked by leading newspaper Times of India.

Those who know Sharma (Rijal) claim that he has played most tournaments conducted by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) in the city. In fact, he represented a `B’ Division cricket club, Bhatnagar Sports Club, which is owned by MCA Jt. Secretary Dr P V Shetty, as recently as five years back.

“Normally, I don’t directly deal with players who play for my clubs. My head coach Sanjay Gaitonde deals with them on a daily basis. But yes it is true that this boy indeed played for one of my clubs,” Shetty confirmed.

Gaitonde admitted that Raju played for the club, but said that his association was restricted to matches alone. “He trained with Naushad and I interacted with him only during matches. I was not his full-time coach. Nor did I work with him in the nets. But he played for us in local tournaments.”

Naushad, who was instrumental in Sharma coming to Mumbai from Varanasi, felt that it was unfair on other boys. “I had taken over Anjuman-e-Islam as coach. My brief was to prepare a crack side. So I started getting kids from UP and started training them. I ensured that they not only get to play quality cricket but also ensured they studied in a good atmosphere. I picked Raju and spent a lot of hours with him during training.

“Our efforts paid off when he was picked for Mumbai’s U-15 squad. But I am surprised to know that he is leading Nepal in the U-19 World Cup. It is unfair on kids who are genuinely U-19,” Naushad said.

Raju, in fact, was captain of the Anjuman-e-Islam side which scored a record 1121 runs against Baptist School (Thane) in Harris Shield (U-17) match in 2004. He opened the innings and scored a half century in that match.

When the Nepal skipper was informed about the development, he was defiant and said: “I don’t have any idea about this. I am not on social media so I cannot comment on this.”

Nepal manager Sudeep Sharma too called the allegations baseless. “He may have gone to Mumbai to play or visit the city, but that doesn’t mean he is 26,” he stressed.

Sources close to International Cricket Council (ICC) said the rules for the associate nations when it comes to fielding players of a certain age aren’t too strict. “They can field a 20-year-old, but that won’t be made public,” a source informed.

Even taking that into account, Rijal is allegedly way above the relaxed age bracket.

“Players born on or after September 1, 1996 are eligible to participate in the event. As such, the ICC conducted due diligence and examined the documents provided by Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), which included a passport copy, birth certificate and completed age determination form declaration. These documents confirmed that the player was under the age of 19 at the time of the cut-off date and was hence deemed eligible,” an ICC spokesperson said.