CAB Pledges Strict Age Verification Protocols Following Two-year Ban For Rohit Yadav

By Pramit Meher

**CAB Tightens Age Checks After Rohit Yadav's 2-Yr Ban** The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has reaffirmed its commitment to strict age verification protocols after legspinner Rohit Yadav was handed a two-year ban for documentation irregularities. Yadav was pulled from the India U19 squad for the upcoming red-ball & white-ball series vs Australia (Rajkot & Ahmedabad later this month) after internal audits flagged inconsistencies in his age records. A replacement has been named but not disclosed. **The specifics:** CAB uncovered multiple conflicting records — three separate birth certificates listing 2006, 2007, and 2009, with Aadhaar updates ranging 2014–2021. This created an official age discrepancy of **27 months**. He'd earlier picked up six wickets in the Youth Test during Sri Lanka's July tour. CAB chief Koley confirmed the board is pushing for digital birth certificates and full update-history checks for all underage players — a policy that's already surfaced discrepancies in several others. "Zero-tolerance" is the BCCI's stance on age fraud in junior cricket. Worth noting: official CAB records show Ravi with a 45-month discrepancy (invalidating all agegroup appearances from 2021/22–2025/26), and left-arm spin all-rounder Vishal Bhatti (3 FC, 2 List A for Bengal) has also been flagged. *Source: IANS* Source: Cricketnmore