The Delhi High Court has directed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to give preference to documentary proof, if genuine, over the medical test to determine the age of players to be chosen for playing in under-16 matches.
Justice V.K. Jain gave the ruling on two separate petitions by two under-16 cricket players, one of whom was debarred from playing by BCCI because he was found to be above 16 years in the medical test conducted at the instance of the regulatory body at a private hospital here.
However, the age proof documents submitted by him to BCCI said his age was less than 16 years on the cut off date.
According to the medical test, his age was found to be 16 years and two months, making him ineligible for selection.
But the BCCI allowed the other player to play as the medical test revealed his age as 16 years and five months on the cut off date. The Board allowed him to play by reducing his age by six months as per the rule of giving the benefit of six months, minus or plus, in the age determined in a medical test.
Yet, both petitioners, Yash Sehrawat and Aryan Sehrawat, challenged the Board’s decision to rely solely on the medical test for determination of the players’ age. The chosen player, Yash Sehrawat, submitted that he was aggrieved by the method adopted by the Board for determination of the age of players for playing in an under-16 team.
