Prithvi Shaw handed backdated suspension for doping violation until 15 November

India’s Test opener Prithvi Shaw has been handed backdated suspension of eight months by the BCCI for a doping violation. BCCI, through a statement, stated that Shaw’s urine sample taken on 22 February 2019 contained Terbutaline – a substance commonly found in cough syrups – which is prohibited in the WADA Prohibited List of Substances. Shaw is suspended until 15 November and in the process he will not be available for the entire home series against South Africa, which begins on 15 September and ends on 23 October. In addition, the 19-year-old will miss the first Test against Bangladesh starting 14 November.

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— Prithvi Shaw (@PrithviShaw) July 30, 2019

On 16 July, Shaw was charged under BCCI’s Anti-Doping Rules (ADR) Article 2.1 and provisionally suspended. The Mumbai batsman admitted the violation asserting that it was inadvertent and stating that it was caused by ingestion of the over the counter cough syrup he had taken to treat his cough. The release also added that after considering the evidence and taking external expert advice on the matter, the board was satisfied by Shaw’s reason that he took it to cure his cough and not enhance his performance. As a result, he will have to serve an eight-month ban. The ban which was meant to start on 16 July, however, has been back-dated to 16 March in view of a discretion under BCCI Anti-Doping Rules (ADR) Article 10.10.2. The statement read, “In addition, because Mr. Shaw promptly admitted his ADRV upon being confronted with it by the BCCI, there is discretion under BCCI ADR Article 10.10.2 to back-date the start of the period of ineligibility to the date of sample collection (22 February 2019). However, the BCCI ADR Article 10.10.2 also requires Mr. Shaw to actually serve one half of the period of ineligibility. Therefore, further to BCCI ADR Article 10.10.2, the eight-month period of Ineligibility will be deemed to have started to run on 16th March 2019, so that it will end at midnight on 15th November 2019.” Shaw, a registered cricketer under the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), under the provision of BCCI’s ADR Article 10.11.2. may return to train with a team or to use the facilities of a club or other member organisation of a Signatory’s member organisation during the shorter of: (i) the last two months of the Cricketer’s period of Ineligibility; or (ii) the last one-quarter of the period of Ineligibility imposed. Besides Shaw, two other cricketers, Akshay Dullarwar registered with Vidarbha Cricket Association and Rajasthan’s Divya Gajraj have also been suspended for doping violation. Dullarwar was tested positive for Desacetyl Deflazacort, a metabolite of Deflazacort. He was playing a BCCI U-23 one day game while Rajasthan’s U-19 cricketer Gajraj has been suspended for six months after he was found to have taken acetazolamide, a diuretic and masking agent, during a Cooch Behar Trophy game. With inputs from PTI