 (2).png)
1 hour ago
1
ARTICLE AD BOX
A fresh controversy has erupted around Rajasthan Royals and their breakout star Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. A Karnataka-based activist has accused the IPL franchise of exploiting the 15-year-old southpaw and even threatened to take legal action against them.
The activist in question, named CM Shivakumar Nayak, made the claims during a debate show on a Kannada news channel, where he accused the franchise of “child labour”.
What are the allegations against Rajasthan Royals?
“This 15-year-old boy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi from Rajasthan Royals is being exploited. He is just a child, only 15 years old, and they have brought him into the IPL to play professional cricket. This is nothing but child labour. How can they make a minor boy play in such a big league like this? He should be focusing on his studies, going to school and completing his education instead of playing cricket at this tender age,” Nayak said, as quoted by Republic World.
“I strongly condemn this and I will be filing a police complaint or legal case against the Rajasthan Royals management for violating child rights and child labour laws. Don’t let this boy play IPL cricket, it’s child labour, he should study,” he added.
What do ICC rules say?
Sooryavanshi recently turned 15, which means he qualifies under the ICC’s Minimum Age Eligibility criteria for playing international cricket.
The rule states that a player “will only be eligible to represent a National Cricket Federation in an International Match (including ICC Events and U19 Events) if he or she is aged 15 or over on the relevant squad submission date (in the case of ICC Events including U19 Events) or on the date of the first match of the series/tournament to be played (in the case of all other International Matches).”
However, Sooryavanshi was aged 14 when he participated in the recent U-19 World Cup. Still, the ICC rules had provisions for such “exceptional” circumstances and allowed the left-handed batter to not only be a part of the squad but also participate in India’s matches.
“ICC acknowledges that in certain exceptional circumstances there may be justifications for allowing someone younger than 15 to play in an International Match. Where a National Cricket Federation considers that exceptional circumstances exist to justify allowing a player younger than 15 to play in an International Match, it may be open for the Exceptional Circumstances Committee to make such a determination,” read the ICC’s player eligibility criteria.
What do BCCI rules say?
Under the latest BCCI rules, for an Under-19 or Under-16 cricketer to be eligible to play in the IPL, he should have played at least one first-class match. However, the rule did not prevent Sooryavanshi from playing in the IPL in either the 2025 or 2026 season because he had made his debut for Bihar in a Ranji Trophy game against Mumbai at the age of 12.
English (US) ·