If you look at them, the physical stature of some of the players playing in the tournament for sure does not match their age category in which they are participating. Country’s one of the most significant tournament at the grass-root level hockey, the Nehru Cup, has been constantly plagued by the problem of overage. A good percentage of players participating in the Nehru Hockey Cup (sub-junior and junior categories) is over prescribed age limit, but enjoys a privilege of playing with their junior mates -- courtesy to their forged date-of-birth certificates.

And this is one of the many instances of overage menace plaguing the competitions at junior level in India. Indian sports in particular have gone so deep into the vortex of this menace that it seems rather impossible to come out of it. Sportspersons trying to participate in the lower age categories only indicates the fact that our moral and ethical values have touched its nadir rather than any lack of genius or infrastructure.