Age-verification process: ‘Anil Kumble’s point was well-received’

Anil Kumble wasn’t the only one to raise questions on the BCCIs’ age-verification process at various junior tournaments. At the working committee meeting on Tuesday, many board officials agreed that the present bone density test, Tanner-Whitehouse 3, was not fool-proof.

Some BCCI officials feel that those who exercise regularly are usually reported overage, while players who don’t train at all are declared under-age. “Kumble’s point was well-received. Isn’t it common sense?”a BCCI official asked. “If your muscles develop with exercise, it is natural that your bones will harden too. Such tests aren’t always an accurate indicator of our skeletal maturity. How else  are 12 out of 20 boys declared overage?”

The official said that the Delhi High Court had made bone examination mandatory only in cases where medical tests were being manipulated. “I think we are following the rules blindly,” he said, adding that the BCCI might also educate parents of budding cricketers on age fudging.

He felt that the age-verification test should be enforced at every U-14 tournament. “It’s compulsory at the U-16 level. The U-14 tourneys are not quite under the preview of the board, but they have to be monitored too,” he said.

Recently, Sanjay Bangar also registered an official protest to the Mumbai Schools Sports Association and Mumbai Cricket Association, claiming that a school in Kurla had fielded overage players.