U-19 World Cup star Manjot Kalra handed suspension from Ranji Trophy for 'age fraud'

The U-19 World Cup star Manjot Kalra has been handed a one-year ban from playing for Delhi for age fraud. The punishment will deprive the Delhi Ranji team, which is desperate to make its batting order strong.

The batsman, who struck a match-winning century in 2018, could not break into the Ranji side last year. 

DDCA’s outgoing ombudsman, Justice (retd) Badar Durrez Ahmed, whose tenure ended on December 16, had issued the order after receiving a complaint by ex-India cricketer Kirti Azad and member Sameer Bahadur.

The order states, “In the case of Mr Manjot Kalra, he shall submit an undertaking that he shall not be playing in age category matches for a period of 2 years from the date of this order. However, he shall be permitted to play in open category matches as well as club matches/tournaments from the second year.”

Delhi chief selector, Bantoo Singh, told Hindustan Times, “We were thinking of including him, but now there is an order, we’ll have to abide by it.”

Delhi will also be without India players Shikhar Dhawan and Ishant Sharma.

However, what comes as a surprise is that Delhi will retain Nitish Rana - who also faces an age-fraud enquiry - along with Harsh Tyagi, U-19 pacer Shivam Mavi, Prashant Bhandari and Sarang Rawat.

While Tyagi and Mavi have shifted out of Delhi, Bhandari does not play anymore. Rawat has been banned for two years from state matches after he and his father tendered an apology.

"I find it surprising that Manjot Kalra has been punished for the same offence that Nitish Rana is also allegedly guilty of. We couldn't pick Manjot as it was Ombudsman's order. He passed it at 11:30 pm at night, a day before he relinquished office. Now that's a bit bizarre," DDCA general secretary Vinod Tihara told PTI.