Daily Times

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday decided to issue a charge-sheet to Pakistan opener Ahmad Shahzad after his dope test was confirmed positive by an independent review board. “Independent Review Board report on doping case has been received by the PCB. Shahzad has tested positive for a banned substance. The PCB will issue charge sheet,” a PCB spokesman said yesterday. Shahzad originally underwent a random dope test in Faisalabad during the 50-over Pakistan Cup in the last week of April, but news of a positive test emerged through media reports on June 20. The PCB tweeted confirmation of the failed test but said, according to International Cricket Council (ICC) rules, it could not name the player until the result was backed up by Pakistan’s anti-doping agency. The original finding, from the WADA-accredited lab in India, had reached the PCB in early June.

A source in the board said that the board had previously refrained from naming Shahzad as it wanted to be completely sure about the dope test because of Shahzad’s seniority. The source explained that the delay in the results had been because samples were sent to an Indian lab for confirmation after Shahzad was tested positive in Pakistan. The report from India arrived Monday, confirming results of the previous test. “A player has reportedly tested positive for a prohibited substance. But under ICC rules PCB cannot name the player or charge-sheet him until the chemical report is confirmed by the Anti-Dope Agency of the government. We should have an answer in a day or two,” PCB had tweeted on June 20.

Shahzad, 26, has struggled to nail down a place in the Pakistan squad in recent years but played in the two-match Twenty20 series at Scotland in June, where he scored a combined 38 runs as the visitors recorded commanding victories. Once he receives the notice, Shahzad stands provisionally suspended and cannot play – or be involved in any capacity – in international matches, and games organised by any national cricket board or its affiliated members. He had already been dropped from the ongoing Zimbabwe tour, and his domestic team HBL is also considering stripping him of the captaincy. Shahzad can request for his B sample (taken at the time as his A sample) to be tested, and if that test does not confirm a positive result then his suspension would be lifted with immediate effect. He can also request for a hearing before an anti-doping tribunal through a written application that must be received by the anti-doping manager within 14 days.

Published in Daily Times, July 11^th 2018.