India U19 leg-spinner Rohit Yadav banned two years over age fraud
Synopsis
A two-year ban on India U19 leg-spinner Rohit Yadav is just the headline — beneath it lies a CAB crackdown that has sanctioned 65 players, invalidated a 2022 World Cup hero's records, and exposed systemic age-fraud in Indian domestic cricket at a scale rarely seen before.
Key Takeaways
Rohit Yadav , India Under-19 leg-spinner, has been banned for two years after the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) found three conflicting birth certificates listing birth years 2006 , 2007 , and 2009 .
The official age discrepancy in his case stands at 27 months .
Yadav has been removed from India's Under-19 squads for the upcoming series against Australia Under-19 in Rajkot and Ahmedabad .
The CAB has sanctioned 65 players in total, barring them from registration or transfers across the 2026–27 and 2027–28 domestic seasons.
Former India U19 World Cup winner Ravi Kumar is among those sanctioned, with a 45-month age discrepancy rendering his records from 2021/22 to 2025/26 invalid.
Bengal all-rounder Vishal Bhatti , with 3 first-class and 2 List A appearances, has also been flagged for documentation irregularities.
India Under-19 leg-spinner Rohit Yadav has been handed a two-year ban from all forms of cricket after the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) uncovered significant discrepancies in his birth documents. The sanction, confirmed on Friday, 4 September, has also resulted in his immediate withdrawal from India's Under-19 squad set to face Australia Under-19 in Rajkot and Ahmedabad later this month.
What the Investigation Found
The CAB's documentation review uncovered three separate birth certificates for Yadav, listing different years of birth — 2006, 2007, and 2009 — across successive updates to his Aadhaar card records between 2014 and 2021. This created an official age discrepancy of 27 months, prompting the two-year ban covering all formats of the game.
Yadav had featured in India's Under-19 squad for the tour of Sri Lanka in July, where he claimed six wickets in the Youth Test. He was also named in the squads for the five 50-over and two multi-day games against Australia Under-19, but has now been removed from both. 'Yes, he has been withdrawn from the squads, after this was alerted to us by CAB. A word on who will be his replacement in the two squads will be known later,' a BCCI source said.
Wider CAB Crackdown: 65 Players Sanctioned
Yadav's case is part of a broader enforcement action by the CAB. In total, 65 players have been barred from registration or transfers across the 2026–27 and 2027–28 domestic seasons due to age-related documentation irregularities. The sweep is among the largest of its kind in Indian domestic cricket in recent memory.
Among those sanctioned is Ravi Kumar, a former India Under-19 World Cup winner whose left-arm pace delivered a match-defining 4 for 34 in the 2022 U19 World Cup final against England in the Caribbean, helping India clinch their fifth title. CAB records reportedly list Ravi with a 45-month age discrepancy, rendering all his age-group participation records from the 2021/22 season through the 2025/26 campaign — across junior and senior levels — invalid.
Other Prominent Names Flagged
Left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Vishal Bhatti, who has made three first-class and two List A appearances for Bengal, has also been charged with the same documentation irregularities. His case adds a senior-cricket dimension to what has largely been framed as a junior-cricket integrity issue.
What Happens Next
The BCCI is yet to name replacements for the affected squads. This crackdown signals a sharper institutional focus on age-fraud in Indian domestic cricket — a problem that has periodically surfaced but rarely resulted in action at this scale. Whether the findings prompt a wider national audit of age-verification protocols across state associations remains to be seen.
Point of View
Not the story. Sixty-five players sanctioned in a single CAB sweep — including a World Cup hero whose records now span years of invalidated cricket — points to a structural failure in how Indian state associations verify age at the point of entry, not just at the point of selection. The Aadhaar trail of three birth years across seven years of updates raises an uncomfortable question: at what stage did no one notice, or choose not to? If the BCCI does not convert this into a nationwide audit with standardised biometric verification, the next scandal is already in the pipeline.
NationPress
4 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why has Rohit Yadav been banned for two years?
Rohit Yadav has been banned for two years because the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) discovered three separate birth certificates listing different birth years — 2006, 2007, and 2009 — in his Aadhaar card records between 2014 and 2021, creating an official age discrepancy of 27 months. The ban covers all forms of cricket.
Which matches will Rohit Yadav miss due to the ban?
Yadav has been immediately withdrawn from India's Under-19 squads for the series against Australia Under-19, comprising five 50-over games and two multi-day matches in Rajkot and Ahmedabad later in September. He had previously played in the U19 tour of Sri Lanka in July, where he took six wickets in the Youth Test.
Who else has been sanctioned in the CAB age-fraud crackdown?
In total, 65 players have been barred from registration or transfers for the 2026–27 and 2027–28 domestic seasons. Notable names include former India U19 World Cup winner Ravi Kumar, whose records from 2021/22 to 2025/26 have been invalidated due to a 45-month age discrepancy, and Bengal all-rounder Vishal Bhatti, who has three first-class and two List A appearances.
What is the significance of Ravi Kumar's inclusion in the sanctions?
Ravi Kumar played a key role in India's 2022 U19 World Cup triumph, taking 4 for 34 in the final against England in the Caribbean to help India win their fifth title. A 45-month age discrepancy found in his CAB records means all his age-group and senior participation from 2021/22 through 2025/26 is now deemed invalid, casting a shadow over those achievements.
What happens to India's U19 squad for the Australia series now?
The BCCI has confirmed Yadav's withdrawal from both squads but had not yet named a replacement as of Friday. The series, featuring five 50-over and two multi-day games, is scheduled to be played in Rajkot and Ahmedabad later in September 2025.
