33 cricketers fall prey to social media hoax, given false Rajkot IPL stint promise

Close to 33 aspiring junior cricketers were duped by an online agency, with the promise of training with the Rajkot Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise on Friday morning. Most of them were also promised a potential berth within the team, on the basis of paying a stipulated cash amount.

However, on reaching the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) office today, they were told that no such trials were scheduled. After hours of scavenging the association for potential contacts, the kids and their parents realised that it was a petty social media hoax.

A senior SCA official said, “We were quite shocked when a host of young boys turned up at the office. We weren’t sure what was going on, but after talking to them, we realised it was posted on social media. SCA as an organisation doesn’t conduct any open selection trial registration via social media, so were convinced that this was a scam. All our announcements are done through the website.”

According to the kids, a man named ‘Raju Ram’ contacted them asking them for Rs 500 to Rs 3000 via online transfer, prior to the hoax camp on Friday. Sandeep Mehta, a boy who travelled from the nation’s capital, New Delhi said, “It was there on a Facebook page, I immediately called him and he asked me to deposit an amount of Rs 500. He also said that I was tracked and had a high chance of getting selected.”

Most of the boys came from different parts of the country including Noida, Nagpur, Mumbai, Pune and even as far away as Kerala. Yash from Noida said, “A person called Raju Ram contacted me and asked me to deposit Rs 3,000 for the selection camp. He told me the camp will be held for three days, and we had a high chance of getting selected, he also promised me a certificate, that would come directly from the Rajkot franchise.”

Sources within the Rajkot Police have stated that the account was created in Pali, Rajasthan. No official complaint has been lodged by the boys’ parents yet.