Indian player withdrawn from U19 tour of Australia due to age fraud

The India U19 player has been pulled from the upcoming matches against Australia U19 after irregularities were found in his age-related documents, with the BCCI also imposing a two-year ban on him from playing domestic cricket.

Bengal all-rounder Rohit Yadav, who was selected in the Indian U19 squads for the upcoming one-day and multi-day matches against Australia, has been dropped from both the squads after an examination of his documents. The Junior Cricket Committee named Aryan Savsani of the Saurashtra Cricket Association as his replacement in the one-day squad, while Tanmay Baloda of the Haryana Cricket Association was included in the multi-day squad.

Rohit was part of the Indian U19 team back in July when they toured Sri Lanka. He took six wickets during the tour and was part of the team that won the final Test. He was subsequently selected for India’s home matches against Australia U19 in Rajkot and Ahmedabad.

However, discrepancies in documents about his age came to light during a check in Sri Lanka. According to available information, Rohit has three birth certificates with different years of birth, with the years 2007, 2009 and 2010 mentioned in the documents.

There were also discrepancies in his Aadhaar records. When Rohit was registered with the Cricket Association of Bengal, his year of birth was recorded as 2007. His Aadhaar records were subsequently updated to show 2006 in 2017 and again in 2020, before being changed to 2009 in 2021.

The Cricket Association of Bengal had earlier kept Rohit out of their junior teams due to irregularities and subsequently informed the BCCI. The board has now imposed a two-year ban on the player and communicated the decision to its affiliated state associations.

INDIA ANNOUNCES REPLACEMENTS

Rohit’s withdrawal means India will now have two different players in Australia depending on the format.

Aryan Savsani has been added to the One-Day squad to lead Lakshya Raichandani and Yashbardhan Chauhan as vice-captain. The team also includes the sons of two legendary Indian cricketers – Aaryavir Sehwag and Anvay Dravid.

Meanwhile, Tanmay Baloda replaces Rohit in the Multi-Day squad, which will be captained by Yashbardhan Chauhan.

CAB, BCCI NEED AGE CHEATS

The action against Rohit comes amid a wider CAB crackdown on age and documentation irregularities among junior cricketers.

The association has identified 62 players who have been declared ineligible for registration or transfer for any tournament during the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons. The list includes former India Under-19 World Cup winner Ravi Kumar and left-arm all-rounder Vishal Bhatti, who has played three first-class matches and two List A matches.

Ravi, a member of India’s 2022 Under-19 World Cup-winning squad, was flagged for a 45-month discrepancy in his age records. The CAB also found significant discrepancies in the documentation of several other age-group players, with some records showing gaps of several years.

The latest action is part of a wider review of player documentation and age records by the CAB as the association steps up eligibility checks in junior cricket.

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Issued by:

Kingshuk Kusari

Published on:

08 Sep 2026 09:25 IST