Entrepreneur | Posted on
I have heard only of Shahid Afridi who faked his age. And I knew about it only recently when he revealed that in his book.
(Courtesy: Samaa.tv)Aside from him, I don’t know any particular name.
However, this isn’t to say that cricketers don’t fake their age. They do! I don’t know any name, but
there are many players who mention their age wrong. This is more prominent in our subcontinent, including countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
There's a reason after all why, last year, BCCI announced a 2-year ban for age frauds.
Cricketers usually like to keep their age less so qualify for under 19 cricket, and play for the national team for longer.
Take Pravin Tambe for example. Even though he rocked IPL a few years back, he was very unlikely to be selected for the national cricket team. Because, primarily, he was in his 40s then. And while there is no such age cap as to how long players can play, selectors usually avoid the older guys. This is more prevalent in Australia, England, and New Zealand.
(Courtesy: CricTracker)So, cricketers fake their age as less to have the room to find more opportunities and to play longer.
(Besides, in India, not just the cricketers but the majority of the population hide their "real age" by at least a year or two.)
(Courtesy: SportsKeeda)So, to answer your question more clearly, it’s quite common for cricketers to fake their age.
This would have been more widespread in the old days when there wasn't much of record-keeping and media scrutiny.
(Courtesy: Hindustan Times)These days, boards are getting more serious about this "cheat"; so they are taking more steps to ensure against faking age.
As for if I know any cricketer who fakes age- I don't! Except for Shahid Afridi who's now retired after a legendary career.
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