Ex-India boxer Vijender Singh, through a social media post, on Wednesday (April 30) questioned if age fraud now nests in cricket as well.
Age fraud, or the misrepresentation of the age of a player, is a big issue in Indian sport, especially at the junior and age-group levels. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made steps to counter this problem, such as tighter verification procedures.
"Bhai aaj kal umar choti ker ke cricket me bhe khelne lage (Players have started lowering their age in cricket too)," wrote Olympic Games bronze medallist Vijender Singh on X.
See Vijender's post on X here:
Bhai aaj kal umar choti ker ke cricket me bhe khelne lage 🤔
— Vijender Singh (@boxervijender) April 30, 2025
Vijender Singh's remarks come after social media questioned the age of Rajasthan Royals batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the youngest player to feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Playing only his third IPL game, 14-year-old Suryavanshi broke a number of records with a smashing century against Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday (April 28). Teenage batter scripted history with a 35-ball ton, quickest by an Indian in the IPL and the second-quickest of all time.
"Even if this Vaibhav fellow did commit age fraud, such crazy power-hitting at the age of 15-16 is crazyyy man," wrote a user on X.
Another user shared an old video of Vaibhav giving an interview and asserted, "Vaibhav is definitely older than he claims."
"No way Vaibhav Suryavanshi is 14 years old. This is a 3-4-year-old video where he himself admitted that he appears younger than his age and defo not 15! This case needs to be seriously probed by @BCCI, and ban him if proved guilty."
Suryavanshi scripted history as he became the youngest-ever cricketer to hit a hundred in T20 cricket. At 14 years and 32 days, he broke the previous record held by Vijay Zol, who was 18 years and 118 days when he hit a ton in 2013.