Rahul Dravid & Co will not be dope-tested before they leave Indian shores for the Caribbean. The BCCI has decided not to subject players to the tests.
ICC says 64 random tests will be conducted during the event
MUMBAI: Rahul Dravid & Co will not be dope-tested before they leave Indian shores for the Caribbean. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided not to subject players to tests before the World Cup.
The decision comes at a time when Pakistan Cricket Board is on an overdrive to ensure all there players and asked them to appear for testing on Friday. Pakistan’s fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif had tested positive for Nandrolone and had to withdraw from the Champions Trophy in India last year.
“There cannot be any comparison between the Pakistan and Indian plays,” Board secretary Niranjan Shah told DNA. “There is no need for us to do any test. Our players are dope educated. Physio John Gloster has been educating the players on the dope issue and we’re happy with his work.”
The Indian Board’s decision, in fact, is in contrast to the general practice. Most Boards send their players to big events like the World Cup only after a thorough check. In fact, before the last World Cup in South Africa the team, led by Sourav Ganguly, was made to undergo dope tests. But Shah says the BCCI is of the view that a test at this point is unwarranted. “Our boys are clean,” Shah stated categorically.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has no problem with the BCCI’s decision.
“It is individual board’s prerogative. We’ve no issues with the decision,” an ICC spokesman told DNA. “But once the team reaches the West Indies, they come under the jurisdiction of the ICC and can be subjected to dope tests any time.”
Of the 51 matches of the mega-event, 16 matches, selected randomly, will come under RADA, (Regional Anti-doping Agency) — the agents of WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) scan. Two players from each team will be picked for testing. Which means 64 tests (not necessarily 64 players as one player can be asked to give sample multiple times) will be conducted during the World Cup.
During the Champions Trophy in India last October-November, RADA sleuths had visited seven matches — one of which was India-Australia game in Mohali. ICC had later declared the Champions Trophy dope-free which means all the players, including India’s Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaif — who were tested — had come clean.
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