Pathan handed backdated five-month doping ban

Yusuf Pathan, the Indian all-rounder with 57 one-day international and 22 T20I caps to his name, gave a sample following a domestic T20 match in March last year that was found to contain Terbutaline

Yusuf Pathan has been hit with a five-month suspension for failing a doping test but the ban will be backdated, the Board of Control for Cricket in India have said.

Pathan, the Indian all-rounder with 57 one-day international and 22 T20I caps to his name, gave a sample following a domestic T20 match in March last year that was found to contain Terbutaline, which features on the World Anti-Doping Authority's list of prohibited substances.

The BBCI ruled that Pathan had "inadvertently" ingested the drug, however, and his exclusion has been adjudged to have run from August 15.

That means he will complete the suspension of January 14 and will be available for this year's Indian Premier League.

"Mr Yusuf Pathan has been suspended for a doping violation. Mr Pathan had inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups," the BCCI said in a statement.

"His sample was subsequently tested and found to contain Terbutaline. Terbutaline, a specified substance, is prohibited both in and out of competition in the WADA Prohibited List of Substances.

"Mr Pathan responded to the charge by admitting the ADRV and asserting that it was caused by his ingestion of a medication containing Terbutaline that had been mistakenly given to him instead of the medication prescribed for him, which did not contain any prohibited substance.

"Having considered all of the evidence and taken expert external advice, the BCCI has accepted Mr Pathan's explanation of the cause of his ADRV, and on that basis has agreed that a period of ineligibility of five months should apply, together with the disqualification of certain results."

"The five-month period of ineligibility will be deemed to have started to run on 15 August 2017 and end at midnight on 14 January 2018."