Indian cricketer Prithvi Shaw, who was suspended for failing a dope test on Tuesday, should have been aware of the anti-doping policies but must have overlooked it, according to the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s anti-doping manager Dr Abhijit Salvi.
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Salvi, who has been serving as BCCI’s anti-doping manager since 2012 said Shaw’s mistake was an inadvertent one and not for enhancing performance.
The 19-year-old Shaw, received a backdated suspension for using Terbutaline present in his cough syrup, a case similar to India all-rounder Yusuf Pathan and Punjab wicket-keeper Abhishek Gupta who were also banned in 2018 for using the same substance.
According to a BCCI release, Shaw “inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups”.
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“I am sure Prithvi [Shaw] knew about BCCI having an anti-doping programme and the helpline. He attended at least three anti-doping education programmes with us. He might have even attended the ICC’s programme conducted at the Under-19 World Cup in 2018. So he was well aware, but probably he just overlooked it and thought to himself ‘okay, the cough syrup shouldn’t be that dangerous’,” Salvi was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
Salvi also said that Yusuf Pathan’s case last year was an eye-opener for many cricketers who then started taking medications cautiously thereafter.
“Earlier, people were casual and did not bother checking all the medicines they were consuming. Yusuf’s case was an eye-opener for everyone. Other cricketers realised that they needed to be careful, too. That’s when people who did not call earlier started checking their medicines regularly,” he added.
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“If you look at the number of cricketers at all age groups, men and women, in India, this is the first time three cases have come up. Earlier it was the one-odd case. That speaks for our education programme. Sheer number of people calling in, the number of people being aware are far more than the number of people testing positive,” Salvi added.
The BCCI has labelled Shaw’s suspension is retrospective in nature and he will serve an eight-month ban starting from March 16 which is set to end by November 16. The youngster will not be a part of India’s home series against South Africa and Bangladesh.