Abhishek Gupta gets eight-month back-dated ban for doping violation
The Punjab wicketkeeper tested positive for Terbutaline, a banned substance that he said he ingested inadvertently, as part of medication for a respiratory tract infection
ESPNcricinfo staff
07-Jun-2018
Abhishek Gupta, the Punjab wicketkeeper-batsman, has been handed a retrospective eight-month doping ban by the BCCI. A urine sample Gupta provided as part of the BCCI's testing programme on January 15, when he was playing for Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, was found to contain terbutaline, which is among the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) list of prohibited substances.
The BCCI charged Gupta with committing an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) on January 17 and provisionally suspended him. Gupta admitted to the violation, but said he took the substance inadvertently, as part of medication prescribed by his doctor to treat an upper-respiratory-tract infection, and not as a performance-enhancing drug. According to webmd.com, terbutaline is a bronchodilator, which works by opening up breathing passages to make breathing easier.
The BCCI was satisfied with Gupta's explanation, and after considering all the evidence and taking expert external advice, has decided to suspend him for eight months, back-dating the start of the suspension to January 15, 2018. This means his records from matches played after January 15 - four T20s and six List A games - will be annulled. His suspension will end on September 14, 2018.
Earlier this year, the BCCI suspended the Baroda allrounder Yusuf Pathan for five months for a similar offence, when his sample had been found to contain terbutaline.