Ahead of IPL 2018 auction, all-rounder Yusuf Pathan is banned for 5 months

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has suspended all-rounder Yusuf Pathan for a period of five months. This ban is for a doping violation.

"Mr Yusuf Pathan has been suspended for a doping violation. Mr Pathan had inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups," BCCI said in a media advisory today (January 9).

Also read:  Yusuf's full statement after ban

"Mr Pathan had provided a urine sample as part of the BCCI's anti-doping testing program during a domestic T-20 competition on 16^th March 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," it added.

The 35-year-old has played 57 ODIs and 22 T20Is for India. He has not played international cricket since March 2012. Recently, he was not retained by Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

With IPL 2018 Players Auction set to take place in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28, Pathan can heave a sigh of relief as his name will be a  part of it. Pathan's ban ends on January 14.

BCCI further explained on Yusuf's ban, "On 27^th October 2017, Mr Pathan was charged with the 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 responded to the charge by admitting the ADRV and asserting that it was caused by his ingestion of a medication containing Terbutaline that had been mistakenly given to him instead of the medication prescribed for him, which did not contain any prohibited substance.

"The BCCI is satisfied with Mr Pathan's explanation that he had taken Terbutaline inadvertently to treat an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI) and not as a performance-enhancing drug. Having considered all of the evidence and taken expert external advice, the BCCI has accepted Mr 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, together with the disqualification of certain results.

"Under BCCI ADR Article 10.10.3, Mr Pathan is entitled to the full credit against that period of ineligibility for the provisional suspension that he has been serving since 28 October 2017. In addition, there is discretion under BCCI ADR Article 10.10.2 to back-date the start date of the period of ineligibility still further on account of Mr Pathan's prompt admission of his ADRV upon being confronted with it by the BCCI, and under BCCI ADR Article 10.10.1 on account of the delays in the results management in this case that are not attributable to Mr Pathan. In all of the circumstances, the five-month period of ineligibility will be deemed to have started to run on 15 August 2017 and end at midnight on 14 January 2018."

The Indian cricket board said it has zero-tolerance approach towards doping. "The BCCI has a zero-tolerance approach towards doping in Cricket. All Cricketers are personally responsible for ensuring that anything they eat, drink or put in their body does not give rise to an ADRV under the BCCI Anti-Doping Code," it said.

Pathan is the second cricketer after Pradeep Sangwan to fail a doping test.