Rahul Dravid Opens up on Age Fraud in Indian Cricket

Former India cricketer as well as the current National Cricket Academy (NCA) director Rahul Dravid was lately seen at the prize distribution ceremony of the Times Cricket Shield where he has stated in a statement that age fraud leads to an “erosion of culture” and is something that anybody involved in the game needs to play an active part in stopping.

Rahul Dravid Opens up on Age Fraud in Indian Cricket

Rahul Dravid at the prize distribution ceremony of the Times Cricket Shield said “It is up to the maidan secretaries, the owners of the office teams, the club teams to ensure that this does not happen,”

He added, “Age fraud leads to an erosion of culture. It leads to a scenario where a lot of talented boys don’t get to play when they should actually be playing,” he then and said it is up to the state bodies in order to make sure a more all-inclusive approach when it comes to allocating with junior cricket.

Dravid was the first non-wicketkeeper to bag 200 plus Test catches. He also faced total of 31,258 balls and the most by any player in Tests. “That though in today’s world is not a virtue,” he felt and stated “Viru (Sehwag) always reminded me about it.”

He also revealed that the former India batsman and Karnataka skipper, Brijesh Patel, who played in the Premier Corporate Tournament had also advised him to play in Mumbai in order to complete his cricketing education.

Dravid had also played an integral role in getting a rule executed that saw players qualified to play in the ICC U-19 World Cup only just the once.

He gave a 15-minute speech at the event and also implored the several cricketers present to remember why they started playing the game.

“Not every one of you will go on to play Ranji Trophy or for India or get an IPL contract. But don’t let selection come in the way of your enjoyment. If you are always worried about your next selection, you will never enjoy the game,” said Dravid.

“The Times Shield, for all of us outside Mumbai, was a tournament that players looked at with a lot of envy. Among the many things I have achieved, I would have loved to add playing in The Times Shield to them,” Dravid said.

As a former under-19 coach, at present Dravid is the director at National Cricket Academy and has formulated strict rules whereby a cricketer can play only in one under-19 World Cup.