Shaw’s doping ban ‘lenient’

– India’s powerful cricket board is under pressure to bring its anti-doping procedures into line with world standards after questions were raised over the ban handed to teenage star Prithvi Shaw.

Shaw (above), the 19-year-old prodigy often compared to Sachin Tendulkar, last week received an eight-month ban after the board of control for cricket in India (BCCI) ruled he “inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance [terbutaline], which can commonly be found in cough syrups”.

Shaw’s ban was backdated to March 16, despite the fact he was playing for the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League until May 8.

The BCCI insists on handling doping analysis and sanctions inhouse, rebuffing pressure from government and the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) to come under the ambit of India’s accredited national anti-doping body.

However, many are calling for more rigorous testing by an independent body.

“The Indian board does not have a robust anti-doping set-up and cricketers are not regularly tested during all national and age-group competitions,” The Hindustan Times said, adding that Shaw was given the “lightest sentence possible”.

Last year, Indian all-rounder Yusuf Pathan also tested positive for terbutaline and received a backdated ban after the BCCI accepted he took it “inadvertently”.

Terbutaline is a bronchodilator, expanding air passages in the lungs. Such substances can raise oxygen levels in the blood, helping stamina, speed and recovery, The Hindustan Times said.

BCCI anti-doping manager Abhijit Salvi said the Indian board doesn’t do its testing through Nada because it is concerned about its standards.

“If we would have been happy with Nada’s performance then BCCI would not have had an issue,” Salvi told AFP. “I am sure you have read reports as well about Nada’s inefficiencies.”

He also rebuffed suggestions of a procedural lapse in the Shaw case, given his ban was backdated to a time when he was still playing.

Salvi said Shaw had probably been too “casual” by taking an over-the-counter medicine, despite attending classes on anti-doping organised by the BCCI.

Shaw, meanwhile, is one of Indian cricket’s hottest properties after he hit a century on his Test debut last year, becoming India’s second-youngest centurion after Tendulkar. – AFP