Yusuf Pathan slapped five-month ban for doping

Despite being slapped with a five-month ban by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for failing a dope test, Yusuf Pathan will not miss the upcoming season of the IPL. The reason being he was handed a backdated ban of five months which had begun on August 15, 2017 and will end on January 14, 2018. Pathan, who was a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders, has not been retained by the franchise and hence will be a part of the auction (which will be held on January 26 and 27) in Bangalore. Pathan had tested positive for Terbutaline (a banned substance in WADA’s list) during a domestic game in 2017. As per a report in the Indian Express on Tuesday, he took a medicine named Brozeet which has Terbutaline, the banned substance, in it. Confirming the same, on Tuesday, the BCCI released a statement saying that Pathan has been suspended after being charged with “commission of an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) under the BCCI Anti-Doping Rules (ADR) Article 2.1 and provisionally suspended pending determination of the charge.” “Mr Pathan had provided a urine sample as part of the BCCI’s anti-doping testing program during a domestic T20 competition on March 16, 2017, in New Delhi. His sample was subsequently tested and found to contain Terbutaline. Terbutaline, a specified substance, is prohibited both In & Out of Competition in the WADA Prohibited List of Substances,” the statement read. In his defence, Pathan said that he had injested the prohibited substance unknowingly after he had been advised to take the prohibited substance to cure throat infection. Satisfied with Pathan’s response, BCCI accepted Pathan’s explanation of the cause of his ADRV, and on that basis has agreed that a period of ineligibility of five months should apply.