BCCI slaps doping ban on Shaw; selectors under fire over WI series

New Delhi: India and Mumbai opener Prithvi Shaw on Tuesday said he is shaken by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspending him for a doping violation, saying he takes all responsibility for unknowingly consuming the banned syrup.

“I have come to know today that I will not be able to play cricket till mid November 2019. This is in light of a prohibited substance present in the cough syrup which I inadvertently took when I had severe cough and cold while playing for my Mumbai team during Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament in Indore in February 2019.

“I was coming back off a freakish foot injury which I suffered during the India tour of Australia and I was returning to active cricket in that tournament. However out of my over eagerness to play, I didn’t follow the protocol of being careful in consuming a basic over the counter cough syrup.

“I accept my fate with all sincerety. While I am still nursing an injury which I suffered during my last tournament, this news has really shaken me.

“I have to take this in my stride and hope it inspires others in our sports fratenity too in India that we as athletes need to be extremely careful in taking any medicine for the smallest of medical ailments even if the medicine is available over the counter and we need to always follow the protocol.”

As per the board, Shaw had inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups. His urine sample contained Terbutaline.

The BCCI statement said: “Shaw had provided a urine sample as part of the BCCI’s anti-doping testing programme during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match on Feb.22 in Indore. His sample was subsequently tested and found to contain Terbutaline.

Meanwhile, Indian cricketing greats slammed the national selectors for making too many changes and accused them of bowing down to skipper Virat Kohli, with Sunil Gavaskar calling them “lame ducks” ahead of the West Indies series. Pressure has mounted since India lost their World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, with former captains Gavaskar and Sourav Ganguly leading the criticism.

India have brought in a host of younger players for their three Twenty20 internationals, three one-day matches and two Tests starting on Saturday.

Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja are the only players selected in all three formats for the tour, while rising stars Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer are in the limited-overs team.

“I’m opposed to too many players being moved around. I’m for stability, not a stop-start type of an environment,” Ganguly told The Print news website.

“We haven’t won a global tournament since the 2013 Champions Trophy. We have to find a way to move beyond the last-four stage. Look at what England did in the recent World Cup. Learning from 2015, they transformed themselves into world beaters.”

Ganguly said there had to be “clear” communications between the selectors, team management and players. “We don’t need cameos only, we need match-winning innings or spells. Learn from Virat, Rohit (Sharma) and (Jasprit) Bumrah... Mohammed Shami too.”

Gavaskar launched his “lame ducks” attack because Kohli’s appointment as skipper for the West Indies did not go through the normal protocol. He said the selection committee, led by former wicketkeeper MSK Prasad, did not meet to reappoint Kohli as captain.

“That they selected the team for West Indies without first having a meeting to select the captain brings up the question of whether Virat Kohli is the captain of the team at his or the selection committee’s pleasure,” Gavaskar wrote in the Mid-Day newspaper.

Agencies