U19 World Cup star Rajvardhan Hangargekar accused of age fudging

The commissioner of the Sports and Youth Department, Maharashtra, Omprakash Bakoria has alleged that India’s Under-19 World Cup star Rajvardhan Hangargekar has committed age fudging. As per reports, in a letter written to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the IAS officer has also attached evidence against the cricketer.

According to the Marathi publication Saamana,  Hangargekar’s real age is 21. Hangargekar, a student of Terna Public School, during readmission in class VIII, his birth date was changed from January 10, 2001, to November 10, 2002. This made him eligible for the recently concluded ICC U-19 World Cup.

The newspaper further reported that in his letter to the BCCI, Bakoria sent evidence in the form of Dharashiv Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rahul Gupta’s confirmation that Rajvardhan Hangargekar’s date of birth was changed.

Rajwardhan Hangargekar was roped in by Chennai Super Kings in IPL mega auction

Coming off a successful U19 World Cup campaign, where he played six matches and picked up five wickets, Hangargekar was bought by CSK for Rs 1.5 crore at the IPL 2022 mega auction. Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin had also claimed that Hangargekar will be primarily targeted in the auction and not his other U19 teammates like Yash Dhull and Raj Bawa.

Born in Tuljapur, a small town in Maharashtra’s Marathwada, Hangargekar switched from off-spin to fast bowling before he was selected in Maharashtra’s Under-16 squad for the Vijay Merchant Trophy. By early 2018, the right-arm bowler had started looking like a fast bowler easily clocking around 130 km/h.

Having represented Maharashtra in the senior category as well, the young pacer career was going at a good pace. However, with this age-fudging allegation, some dark clouds are now looming above his head. And with such reports in place, it remains highly unlikely that he will be able to carry forward his IPL outing, wherein he got roped by four times champions Chennai Super Kings.