Rajvardhan Hangargekar, the allrounder whose exploits in India’s triumphant run in the Under-19 World Cup, has been accused of fudging age by the Sports Ministry of the Maharashtra state government.
“The conduct of the Mr Rajvardhan Hangargekar is against the sports integrity and ethics. lt deprives fair play and results into damages to the reputation of the nation. Therefore, you are requested to take strict action in accordance with the law,” wrote Om Prakash Bakoria, the Commissioner of Sports and Youth Services of Maharashtra State, in a letter to BCCI secretary Jay Shah on February 8.
Hangargekar hails from Tuljapur, a religious town in Osmanbad district of Maharashtra’s Marathwada region. According to Bakoria’s letter, based on the investigations conducted by the Zilla Parishad CEO of Osmanabad, Hangargekar’s date of birth was changed from January 10, 2001 to November 10, 2002 manually by the headmaster of his school in the eighth standard.
