Yusuf Pathan eligible for IPL after board backdates doping ban

To make it simple to understand, former India cricketer Yusuf Pathan failed a dope test during a domestic game some five months back in 2017. But the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) own anti-doping mechanism has made it sure that he would not miss even a single game of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL), where he will be featuring in the open auctions on January 27 and 28.

Strange as it may appear, but that's the luxury Indian cricketers enjoy for not being under the lens of the global watchdog World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

BCCI, on its part has slapped a five-month "backdated" ban which will end on January 14. The only loss that Pathan suffered was that he was not picked by his home team Baroda last season after being briefed by BCCI regarding his failed test. The former India player has not played any form of cricket since October last year.

Pathan, who has not been retained by Kolkata Knight Riders this season, is likely to be in high demand for his all-round abilities during the IPL auction in Bengaluru this month end.

The 35-year-old Baroda cricketer's urine sample was taken by BCCI's home grown anti-doping agency during a domestic Twenty20 competition on March 16, 2017, in New Delhi. Subsequently, the sample was found to contain 'Terbutaline', which is a specified substance and is prohibited both in and out of competition in the WADA prohibited list of substances.

As news came out regarding his suspension, Pathan immediately issued a statement "thanking BCCI for hearing his case in a fair and reasonable manner".

BCCI reasoning was simple that "Board was satisfied with Pathan's explanation that the substance entered his body through medication while taking a cough syrup and not as a performance-enhancing drug".

In a statement, Pathan said, "Competing for India and my home state Baroda has been a matter of immense pride and encouragement for me and I would never act in any manner to bring my motherland or Baroda, in any kind of disrepute."

"In hindsight, I should have been more careful and checked the status of the medications with BCCI s dedicated Anti-Doping Helpline," he added.

Pathan is only the second Indian cricketer to fail a dope test. In 2013, Delhi left-arm paceman Pradeep Sangwan was banned for 18 months after testing positive for banned substance. Sangwan has now been named as team's skipper for the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy,.

Questionable decision

Going by history of dope cheats world wide, the onus is always on player to make sure that he doesn't consume any banned medicine or substance, knowingly or unknowingly.

BCCI has been under pressure from Indian government's anti-doping watchdog, NADA, to conduct the tests on Indian cricketers. The board, however, had made it clear that it will not budge from its anti-doping policies and will not allow any agency's diktats.

In this case, Pathan was charged with the commission of an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) on October 27, 2017 under the BCCI Anti-Doping Rules (ADR) Article 2.1. Going by BCCI's statement, Pathan was provisionally suspended pending determination of the charge.

Wrestler Narsingh Yadav also pleaded "innocent" and was subsequently cleared by Wresting Federation of India (WFI) before the Rio Olympics last year. But the 26-year-old was later thrown out of the Games Village by WADA and banned for six years.

Yadav's sabotage theory was thrown out of window during the course of hearing and WFI was slammed for such "shoddy clearance".

"I cannot comment on this issue since I've not following it. But the fact remains that BCCI has its own mechanism of dope testing and since cannot be forced to follow any norms," was all that sports medicine expert Dr PS Chandran had to offer.