Manjot Kalra, U19 World Cup winner’s parents lied about his age, as per Police Chargesheet

The Indian junior cricket has evolved into a pretty robust structure over the last few years as we have seen many youngsters make their way to the top and some of them have had amazing careers for their states and even for India. However, the system has also been marred with cases of age-fudging, where parents lie about their ward’s real date of birth in order to secure them a place in the age-group team.

One such case, amongst many which have been unearthed by Delhi Police’s special investigation unit of the crime branch, is of India 2017 U19 World Cup winning team member Manjot Kalra, who represents Delhi in the national competitions. This revelation came as part of ongoing investigations by the crime branch into several cases of age fudging among those playing junior cricket in the capital.

Kalra’s parents lied about his real age claims police in their chargesheet

As per the chargesheet filed before the chief metropolitan magistrate, Tis Hazari Courts, Kalra’s original date of birth is January 15, 1998, and not January 15, 1999, as registered in the BCCI records. His parents Parveen Kumar and Ranjit Kaur — have been named in the chargesheet, as Manjot was a minor at that time.

Apart from Kalra, parents of 11 other players found guilty by Delhi Police and find a mention in the chargesheet, for falsifying the birth certificates in order to make their wards eligible for lower age groups.

“It is crystal clear that the date of birth of Manjot Kalra has been fudged/changed by his parents in order to give him the undue benefit of playing with the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA). It is proved beyond doubt that the birth certificate of Manjot Kalra has been fudged/changed by his parents,” the report states.

Father denies the whole thing

Manjot’s father Praveen has categorically denied any wrongdoing on his part. “When he was first admitted in school, the entry made by a relative was wrong and we later got it corrected. His correct year of birth is 1999,” Parveen was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

The parent/parents of the following cricketers have also been named in the chargesheet: Harsh Tyagi, Ankit Pratap Singh, Harshit Sethi, Raja Khan, Bharat Gupta, Prasant Bhandari, Prateek Kaushik, and Sarang Rawat.