In an email sent by MSSA, Rizvi's Vaibhav Kalmalkar, Sagar Chabria, Anchal Mishra and Abhishek Yadav have been found overaged.
Rizvi Springfield (Bandra) have been allowed to play this year's Harris Shield semifinal despite medical tests at JJ Hospital here on Monday proving four of their players being overaged.
In an email sent by MSSA, Rizvi's Vaibhav Kalmalkar, Sagar Chabria, Anchal Mishra and Abhishek Yadav have been found overaged. Besides the quartet being debarred from taking part in the MSSA tournament for two academic years (2016-17 and 2017-18), they have also been fined Rs 2,000 each.
MSSA had said last month that “the players and the school would receive direct ban from the current season if found guilty”. What is strange, though, is that only the overaged players have been suspended but the school has been let off. In this case, Rizvi is being allowed to play the semifinal against Don Bosco (Matunga).
The Bandra side wasn't the only school punished for fielding overaged players. Swami Vivekananda's (Borivli) decision to protest against Rizvi Springfield for fielding overaged players backfired. Four of their own players were found to be overaged. With the Borivli side filing a complaint, Rizvi too asked them to undergo a bone test, which found Aman Sharma, Ruthvik Rathod, Prashant Pillai and Gautam Waghela above the age limit.
What is even more surprising from the MSSA's and Mumbai Cricket Association's stance is that it's not the first time the Bandra school has been found guilty of fielding overage players. Last season, a Rizvi player was banned by MSSA for a year for having a faulty birth certificate. The MSSA banned him even though he passed the TW3 test and then played BCCI's U-16 state tournament for Mumbai.
“The players had to be debarred. But it's really odd to find the school not being suspended from the tournament. It was decided that the third and fourth placed teams (CNMS, Vile Parle and St Anne's, Orlem) would contest for a place in the semifinals against Don Bosco. It's really harsh for the these two schools to not play now. And, what's the guarantee that Rizvi won't do it again. It's not the first time this is happening,” said an MSSA official on the condition of anonymity.
However, Sebastian Fernandes, general secretary of the MSSA, felt that the school may be unaware about any previous birth certificates of their students. “Sometimes, it's the kids and their parents who forge birth certificates just to play cricket. Taking that into consideration, we decided not to ban the school from this year's tournament. They have been given the benefit of doubt in this case and we hope to see no overage player in the semifinal or in any future Rizvi matches,” said Fernandes, who added saying that the school may continue to take advantage of such leeway. “One can only hope that this doesn't happen. The MSSA won't be so lenient the next time.”
But the person most unaware about the latest findings was Raju Pathak, coach of Rizvi Springfield. \"I have no idea about the email you have received. I have received this news from you. The school is yet to intimate us about this,\" said Pathak. “How will I know if they were overaged? They could have forged their certificates. I'm happy that the school wasn't punished. Good thing is it's now over. We have a semifinal to play now,” he added.
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